House scuttles bipartisan Iran War Powers resolution

WASHINGTON (CN) — The House on Thursday put down another legislative effort to halt President Donald Trump’s self-described war in Iran, refusing once again to stand in the way of the White House as it prosecutes a major military campaign with virtually no congressional oversight.

The Republican-led effort to quash the bipartisan measure — brought under the 1973 War Powers Resolution — is the second such defeat of a bill aimed at slapping limits on a rapidly expanding conflict that has so far killed hundreds, including a half dozen U.S. service members and Iran’s supreme leader.

Senate lawmakers this week voted down a similar War Powers resolution brought by Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, who failed to accrue the support of a few key Republicans who may have gotten the measure across the finish line. And on Thursday afternoon, the House likewise scrapped a similar effort sponsored by California Representative Ro Khanna and Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, on a 212-219 vote.

Speaking on the House floor Tuesday, Massie argued Trump sidestepped Congress’ power to declare war by striking Iran without the authorization of lawmakers and had trampled on the War Powers act’s restrictions on when a president can take unilateral military action.

“Iran has not attacked the United States, Congress has not declared war, and Congress has not granted specific statutory authorization,” said the Kentucky Republican.

And Massie contended that the White House had yet to give lawmakers a “straight answer” about its war aims. The Pentagon has offered a shifting rationale for its war on Tehran, but has said recently that it hopes to knock out the country’s missile and drone infrastructure, destroy its navy and decimate its nuclear program.

The congressman also criticized his GOP colleagues, who he claimed were reticent to go on the record and vote to support a conflict in the Middle East that lacks a clear endgame.

“Congress cannot be bothered with its constitutional duty because, for many in this chamber, it’s easier to simply allow someone else’s sons and daughters to be sent to combat without their vote,” said Massie.

Khanna told the House that the U.S. needed to reassert its “moral vision,” adding the proposed resolution would be a step toward reimagining American foreign policy as leading through “diplomacy, statesmanship and principle.”

“The world needs an America that finds its moral center,” said Khanna. “Let us declare with courage and clarity that we reject this illegal and unjust war in Iran. Let us choose moral renewal over further moral decay.”

Despite the pleas of the measure’s sponsors, however, Republican leadership in the House was roundly opposed to any resolution that they saw as handcuffing the Trump administration’s ability to finish the military campaign that’s already underway.

House Speaker Mike Johnson this week called Massie and Khanna’s resolution “dangerous.” And Arkansas Representative Rick Crawford, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, suggested to reporters during a news conference Thursday that even if the measure passed, the president would likely veto it.

“We need to understand that the president plays a role in the legislative process,” said Crawford. “If they want to engage in political theater and raise this War Powers act they’re trying to move — whether they’re successful remains to be seen — but the president will have the final say on that.”

Crawford added that he thought Trump was acting “well within” his constitutional authority in the Iran strikes. “And he’s doing it very well,” the lawmaker added.

Meanwhile, the House on Thursday passed a separate resolution reaffirming Iran’s status as “the largest state sponsor of terrorism.” That measure cleared the chamber on a bipartisan, 372-53 vote.

As the White House’s war in Iran drags toward the one-week mark, the Pentagon and administration officials have signaled that the U.S. military is preparing to step up strikes against Tehran even further. The campaign, which began as a joint operation with Israel, has so far killed more than 1,200 people, according to Iranian Red Crescent figures. Among the casualties are six U.S. soldiers, killed on a military base in Kuwait, and 11 Israelis.

Trump’s Iran strikes have also killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several of its other senior leaders. A separate strike at a girls school in the south of Iran killed as many as 175 people — the Pentagon has said it is investigating.

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