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House Approves War Powers Resolution 06/04 06:24
The House for the first time Wednesday approved a war powers resolution that
would halt the U.S. military action against Iran, defying President Donald
Trump as a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to end the
three-month-long conflict that has reordered politics at home and abroad.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House for the first time Wednesday approved a war
powers resolution that would halt the U.S. military action against Iran,
defying President Donald Trump as a handful of Republicans joined with
Democrats to end the three-month-long conflict that has reordered politics at
home and abroad.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to prevent an outcome that would show
the mounting opposition to the war, abruptly shutting down floor action two
weeks ago when the resolution was on the verge of approval. But displeasure has
only grown as the conflict drags on and as Trump struggles to negotiate a plan
for peace.
"Enough is enough," said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on
the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who led the effort.
"It is time for the president to do the right thing," he said. "The people
are tired of suffering because of his war of choice -- suffering at the gas
pump, suffering at the supermarkets."
The roll call Wednesday was 215-208, but next steps are uncertain. Trump
would likely reject any measure from Congress to limit his commander-in-chief
authority. Still, the tally, with four Republicans joining Democrats, was a
rebuke of the president's war strategy, and cheers erupted in the House chamber.
Opposition to war grows
It's the fourth time the House has tried to curb the U.S. war against Iran.
The Senate advanced its own war powers resolution last month when a handful of
GOP senators broke ranks with the Republican president in a rare show of
political pushback from his party.
Each time Democrats have pushed forward the war powers resolution, the vote
tallies have inched higher as political unease with the U.S. war swells. Trump
had campaigned for the White House on a promise to end U.S. entanglements
abroad and focus more on domestic issues, but the war has shifted attention
back to the Middle East.
Johnson insisted Trump is "laser focused" on the domestic front,
particularly ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of
Congress.
The speaker said he spent three hours at the White House with the president
this week and Trump is calling on allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz
and resume the flow of commerce.
Since the U.S. joined Israel in launching the Feb. 28 strikes on Iran,
Americans have seen gas prices spike at the pumps, adding to inflationary
pressure on consumer spending.
Iran has been able to interrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a
vital channel for a large segment of the world's oil, natural gas and related
products such as fertilizer.
"We're working on that final piece," said Johnson, R-La. "The entire world
has an interest in the Strait of Hormuz being reopen for commerce. That what
he's working on."
While a ceasefire in the conflict was declared in April, it remains uneasy
and uncertain. Talks for a more durable end to the fighting have dragged,
increasingly complicated by Israel's broadening war with Iran-backed Hezbollah
militants in Lebanon. Meanwhile, military strikes between the U.S and Iran
continue to flare.
Congress exerts its war powers authority
The war powers resolution from the House would not immediately stop the war,
but it would provide a symbolic -- if not legal -- step against further
military action.
The resolution next goes to the Senate, where four Republican senators last
month joined Democrats in advancing a similar measure to curtail the U.S.
campaign against Iran. The Senate has yet to take a final vote to approve or
reject its own war powers resolution.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Wednesday at a House Foreign Affairs
Committee hearing that the Iranians would think that the administration's
"hands are going to be tied" if Congress approved a war powers resolution. He
said they would think "we won't be able to do anything to them, so why make a
deal?"
It's not the only action Congress is taking in the national security arena
as Democrats, in the minority, work to peel off Republican support for measures
beyond the war against Iran.
The House also voted Wednesday on another Democratic-led effort, a
procedural step toward a measure that would authorize U.S. support for
Ukraine's military operations as it battles Russia and would help reconstruct
the war-torn country. That vote is expected later this week. The House also
expected to consider a war powers resolution to block U.S. action in Lebanon.
While Congress has the authority under the Constitution to declare war, the
president also has power as the commander in chief to engage in military
action, creating a legal dispute over which branch of government has ultimate
say in matters of war and peace. If Senate joins the House to approve the
resolution, it could set the stage for a fresh legal test of war powers.
Under the war powers act, the White House has a 60-day window to seek
approval from Congress for military action. The administration, however, has
indicated that because a ceasefire has been declared in the current conflict in
Iran, the hostilities have ceased.
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