House Passes War Powers Resolution Rebuking Trump Over Iran Conflict

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan War Powers Resolution seeking to end American hostilities against Iran, marking a political setback for President Donald Trump as criticism grows over a conflict now in its fourth month.

The resolution, introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and backed by senior Democrats including Reps. Adam Smith and Jim Himes, passed Wednesday in a narrow 215-208 vote.

“The passage of my War Powers Resolution is a significant bipartisan rebuke of President Trump’s illegal and costly war in Iran, and the first step toward ending it once and for all,” Meeks said.

The vote reflects mounting congressional opposition to the conflict, which critics say has failed to meet its objectives while driving up economic and human costs.

“The message from today’s bipartisan Iran War Powers Resolution vote was crystal clear: Trump must immediately end his catastrophic war of choice against Iran,” said Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Smith said the administration had failed to achieve its stated goals, including “ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions, removing its highly enriched uranium, or regime change.”

Instead, Smith said, “Iran has gained greater leverage, continues to destabilize the region, has a younger and more hardline Ayatollah, and we’re looking at having to pay Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before Trump launched his war.”

Meeks also argued that the conflict had weakened the prospects for diplomacy.

“Trump’s war has failed to accomplish the Trump administration’s stated goals with respect to Iran. If anything, it has pushed a diplomatic resolution of Iran’s nuclear program further away,” Meeks said.

He said the war had “allowed Iran to demonstrate its leverage over the Strait of Hormuz” while increasing costs for Americans.

“Americans are paying 50 percent more at the gas pump since the war began and footing the bill for billions per week in costs for a war they overwhelmingly oppose,” Meeks said.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal said she would have supported the measure but was unable to vote because she was in India attending to an unforeseen health emergency involving her mother.

“Had I been in Washington, D.C., I would have voted YES on the War Powers Resolution to end Trump’s illegal war in Iran,” Jayapal said.

Jayapal said Congress alone has the constitutional authority to declare war and described the conflict as a “war of choice.”

“This war has had disastrous effects for the American people and for the world,” she said, citing the deaths of U.S. service members, civilian casualties in Iran and Lebanon, displacement of civilians and rising economic costs.

“The simple truth is that the American people are paying the price for Trump’s lawlessness,” Jayapal said. “Every day that this war continues is a violation of our Constitution.”

Smith and Meeks said the House vote reflected growing public dissatisfaction with the conflict.

“Today’s vote was also a reflection of the American public’s overwhelming rejection of Trump’s staggeringly unpopular and abject failure of a war,” Smith said.

Meeks said the vote showed that “more and more Republicans are listening to their constituents who do not want another open-ended war in the Middle East.”

“Now the Senate must take up this measure and make clear to the President that enough is enough,” Meeks said.

The House vote comes amid a broader debate in Washington over presidential war powers and congressional oversight of military action. (Source: IANS)