The speaker of the US House, Mike Johnson, in Washington DC on 20 May. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP
House Republicans Cancel Vote on War Powers Resolution to End US War in Iran
House Republicans canceled a scheduled Thursday vote on a war powers resolution aimed at ending the US war with Iran, a measure that likely would have advanced had the vote been held. The cancellation, which avoided political embarrassment for Donald Trump, is the latest signal that congressional support for the US president's war is diminishing.
The three top House Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar, called Republican leadership “cowardly” for cancelling the vote. “For nearly three months, Donald Trump has forced America and our men and women in uniform into a reckless and costly war of choice in Iran. Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth took us to war without clear objectives, an exit strategy, public support or the authorization required by the United States Congress,” the Democrats said in a statement.
“The Republican-controlled House continues to behave like a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Trump administration. Republicans cowardly pulled a scheduled vote on a War Powers Resolution – legislation that would have passed with bipartisan support and required the President to end the conflict in the Middle East,” they added.
The vote has been postponed until lawmakers return from a recess in June, but it appears likely that the resolution could pass then. According to Politico, Brian Fitzpatrick, a Philadelphia-area Republican representative who broke with his party last week to vote for the last Iran war powers resolution, and was attacked by Donald Trump on Wednesday, said the delay would not stop the resolution from passing soon. “The next time they bring it, it’s passing,” he said.
Among the Republican House members absent on Thursday but expected to be present when the resolution is put to a vote in June was Thomas Massie, the Kentucky representative who has been a critic of the joint US-Israeli war on Iran. Massie lost a primary election this week to a Trump-backed candidate who was encouraged to run after the president was angered by Massie’s role in forcing the Department of Justice to release investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, the late child sex offender Trump socialized with for nearly two decades.
Earlier this week in the Senate, four Republicans joined Democrats in advancing the war powers resolution. It was the eighth time the chamber had attempted to move the bill forward.
