The House of Representatives voted 215-208 on Wednesday (June 3rd) to adopt the war powers resolution, which requires Trump to withdraw US forces or seek congressional approval to continue the US’s war with Iran, which began at the end of February. Four Republican members of congress Thomas Massie (Kentucky), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania), Tom Barrett (Michigan), and Warren Davidson (Ohio), joined the Democrats in voting in favor of the resolution against the outright pleas on the part of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who sought to maintain party discipline for the vote. A similar vote in the Senate on May 19th received 50 votes, with Republican senators Sens. Rand Paul (Kentucky), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) crossing the aisle to vote with the Democrats, while Jon Fetterman (Pennsylvania) was the lone Democrat to vote with the Republicans. The House would also have to approve the Senate version before it could be sent to President Trump for signature. Trump would almost certainly veto the measure, requiring both the House and Senate to override the veto with a two-thirds majority in each chamber for the resolution to take effect. To date, no War Powers Resolution has successfully survived a presidential veto.
The vote, however, symbolically underscores the growing public discontent, including within sections of the Republican Party, over the conduct of the American war against Iran. This, together with rising inflation and high gas prices have Republicans worried over their chances in the upcoming November midterm elections. This together with the latest NY Times-Siena poll conducted mid-May which found that 64 percent of registered voters think Trump made the wrong decision in going to war with Iran, while only 30 percent believe he made the right decision. Republican members of Congress as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio have argued that Congressional intervention would harm the current negotiations with the Iranians. Yet, while the symbolic opposition underlines the cratering public support for the war with Iran, the President still retains almost total control over the levers of foreign policy.
The House of Representatives voted 215-208 on Wednesday (June 3rd) to adopt the war powers resolution, which requires Trump to withdraw US forces or seek congressional approval to continue the US’s war with Iran, which began at the end of February. Four Republican members of congress Thomas Massie (Kentucky), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania), Tom Barrett (Michigan), and Warren Davidson (Ohio), joined the Democrats in voting in favor of the resolution against the outright pleas on the part of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who sought to maintain party discipline for the vote. A similar vote in the Senate on May 19th received 50 votes, with Republican senators Sens. Rand Paul (Kentucky), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) crossing the aisle to vote with the Democrats, while Jon Fetterman (Pennsylvania) was the lone Democrat to vote with the Republicans. The House would also have to approve the Senate version before it could be sent to President Trump for signature. Trump would almost certainly veto the measure, requiring both the House and Senate to override the veto with a two-thirds majority in each chamber for the resolution to take effect. To date, no War Powers Resolution has successfully survived a presidential veto.
The vote, however, symbolically underscores the growing public discontent, including within sections of the Republican Party, over the conduct of the American war against Iran. This, together with rising inflation and high gas prices have Republicans worried over their chances in the upcoming November midterm elections. This together with the latest NY Times-Siena poll conducted mid-May which found that 64 percent of registered voters think Trump made the wrong decision in going to war with Iran, while only 30 percent believe he made the right decision. Republican members of Congress as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio have argued that Congressional intervention would harm the current negotiations with the Iranians. Yet, while the symbolic opposition underlines the cratering public support for the war with Iran, the President still retains almost total control over the levers of foreign policy.