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House GOP Cancels Iran War Vote Amid Split, Senate Advances Similar Resolution

House GOP Cancels Iran War Vote Amid Split, Senate Advances Similar Resolution
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House Republican leaders abruptly canceled a planned vote Thursday on a resolution directing President Donald Trump to end the war in Iran or secure explicit congressional authorization, after it became clear the measure was likely to pass amid GOP absences theguardian +1. The decision came just two days after the Senate advanced a similar resolution in a 50–47 vote, a rare bipartisan rebuke of the president’s handling of the conflict time +1.

The House measure, led by Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, would invoke the 1973 War Powers Resolution to compel Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from the Iran campaign, launched with Israeli support on February 28, unless Congress approves continued hostilities theguardian +1. A prior House attempt failed in a 212–212 tie on May 14, underscoring how a handful of Republicans now hold the balance on whether Congress formally challenges the president’s war-making authority nevadacurrent.

Why GOP Leaders Yanked the Vote at the Last Minute

The vote had been scheduled for late Thursday afternoon, just before lawmakers left Washington for the Memorial Day recess, and Republican leaders initially planned to defeat it or at least block it procedurally theguardian. But as attendance lists firmed up, they concluded Democrats had enough support — boosted by a small group of Republican defectors and multiple GOP absences — to pass the resolution outright or to defeat leadership’s effort to kill it reuters +1.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said the delay was about “some members that weren't there for it who wanted to be recorded on it” and promised a vote when the House returns in early June nbcnews. Democrats rejected that explanation as political cover; Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his top deputies accused Republicans of “cowardly” protecting Trump from “a bipartisan rebuke of his illegal war,” while Meeks said, “We had the votes without question, and they knew it” reuters +1. Some Republicans, including Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick, openly signaled they were prepared to back the measure, with Fitzpatrick predicting, “The next time they bring it, it's passing” reuters.

A Growing Intraparty Split Over Trump’s Iran Campaign

The House retreat followed a striking development in the Senate, where four Republicans — Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky — joined Democrats on Tuesday to advance the Iran war powers resolution for the first time, producing a 50–47 tally aided by three absent GOP senators time +1. Cassidy, who recently lost a Trump-backed primary, said the administration had kept Congress “in the dark” on the operation and that no extension of the conflict could be justified without clarity on objectives and legal authority time.

Supporters of the resolutions across both chambers argued that the statutory 60‑day clock for unauthorized hostilities under the War Powers Resolution has effectively run out, pointing to an estimated $25 billion in costs and at least 13 U.S. service members killed since late February nbcnews +1. The White House and most Republicans countered that Trump is acting within his commander‑in‑chief powers to confront a longtime adversary and protect U.S. interests, insisting the campaign is necessary to counter Iranian threats, including its nuclear program nytimes +1. Even if both chambers ultimately pass a concurrent resolution, Trump is expected to veto it, and current vote counts suggest Congress lacks the two‑thirds majorities needed to override time +1.

The Bigger Picture

The canceled vote exposed how fragile Republican unity has become on Trump’s Iran strategy, as war costs, rising gas prices and constitutional concerns pull a small but pivotal bloc away from leadership nbcnews +1. When the House returns in June, the same razor‑thin margins that forced Thursday’s retreat will shape whether Congress delivers a symbolic warning or a more consequential demand that the president seek authorization — a test not just of the War Powers Resolution, but of how far Republicans are willing to go in publicly restraining their party’s leader in the middle of a war theguardian +1.