House Republican leaders on Thursday canceled a planned vote on legislation that would compel President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iran war, acknowledging they could not muster enough support among their own members to defeat the Democratic-sponsored measure. The decision delays action until June and marks the clearest sign to date of eroding congressional support for a conflict the president launched more than two months ago without seeking congressional authorization.
MSI previously reported that House GOP leaders had called off the vote and that the Senate had separately advanced a war powers measure, as congressional frustration with the war’s trajectory deepened. Read the prior coverage.
The House had scheduled a vote on a war powers resolution brought by Democrats that would rein in Trump’s military campaign in Iran. But as it became clear that Republicans would not have the numbers to defeat the bill, GOP leaders declined to hold a vote on it — the latest sign of slipping support in Congress for a war that Trump launched more than two months ago without congressional approval.
“We had the votes without question and they knew it, and as a result they’re playing a political game,” said Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, who sponsored the bill.
In the Senate, Republicans are also working to ensure they have the votes to dismiss a separate war powers resolution that advanced to a final vote earlier this week. Four GOP senators supported the resolution in that procedural vote, and three other Republicans were absent. The Senate measure, if passed, would also direct the president to end U.S. involvement in hostilities against Iran.
The developments in both chambers reflect a growing Republican unease with a war that has now dragged past the 60-day mark without clear exit strategy or a formal declaration of hostilities from Congress. While earlier war powers votes in March and April fell largely along party lines, the defections this week in the Senate and the inability of House leaders to hold a vote altogether signal that the administration’s congressional firewall is weakening.