- Four Republicans join Democrats in supporting the measure.
- The House also backs the Ukraine measure, which the administration opposes.
- Democrats emphasize “affordability” as the November midterms approach.
The Republican-led US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a resolution to block President Donald Trump from continuing the war against Iran, reflecting growing concern among members of his party about the three-month-old conflict.
The House voted 215 to 208, with four Republicans voting with Democrats for the war powers resolution. It was the latest setback for Trump in Congress despite his party’s slim majority in both the House and Senate.
The vote is largely symbolic. Any resolution would also need to pass the Senate to become effective, achieving a two-thirds majority in both chambers to overcome an almost certain Trump veto.
The vote nonetheless reflects unease among some Republicans over Trump’s handling of the conflict and marks a rare bipartisan effort to limit the president’s war powers.
The war has entered a fourth month with no end in sight, and after three previous war powers resolutions failed in Parliament by increasingly narrow margins.
The Senate advanced a separate but similar resolution last month in a procedural vote after seven previous attempts failed.
The four House Republicans who voted for the war powers resolution were Representatives Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
No Democrats voted against it, although seven members of the House did not vote.
Latest backlash against Trump
Trump has recently faced some resistance in Congress after months in which very few Republicans pushed back against any of his policy initiatives.
In a separate vote on Wednesday, the House voted to advance a bid for a vote on providing security aid to Ukraine and imposing new sanctions on Russia. The measure came up for a vote after a petition reached a threshold of 218 signatures last month to move forward.
Six Republicans and one independent, who usually votes with Republicans, voted in favor.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday that the administration was abandoning a fund to pay his political allies who said they had been the subject of government abuse after some Republicans objected.
Republican lawmakers on Wednesday also criticized Trump’s selection of loyalist Bill Pulte — a mortgage regulator with no national security experience — to serve as acting director of National Intelligence.
