Four Republicans just broke ranks to slap limits on Trump’s Iran strikes — and it passed. The catch? It probably won’t become law, but the message is loud.

In a proper bit of pushback, the US House of Representatives voted to rein in Donald Trump’s ability to lob strikes at Iran without asking Congress first. And yep, you read that right — four Republicans actually teamed up with the Democrats to get it over the line.

The final tally on Wednesday in Washington, DC was 215 to 208. Will it become law? Unlikely. But it’s still a proper rebuke of Trump’s call to jump into Israel’s attacks on Iran back on 28 February. That conflict hits the 100-day mark this Saturday.

Trump didn’t bother getting Congress’s green light for the war. Instead, he’s been calling it a “skirmish” or a “short-term excursion”. Meanwhile, plenty of folks in Congress are getting fed up, pointing out that the Constitution says *they’re* the ones with the power to declare war, not the President.

This is actually the fourth time this year the House has had a go at a war powers resolution on Iran. But it’s the first time one’s actually passed. The vote was originally meant to happen on 21 May, right before the Memorial Day break. But House Speaker Mike Johnson — a Trump ally — adjourned early and the vote got canned, even though it looked like it had the numbers.

After the recess, they brought it back. And these four Republicans broke with their party to pass it: Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

Massie, who Trump actively campaigned against in his re-election bid, posted on social media: “The Iran War Powers Resolution that I cosponsored (opposing the war) just passed the House of Representatives. The People’s House is sending a message: end this war.”

He won’t be back next year though. He lost his primary last month to Trump-backed Ed Gallrein.

Barrett, whose seat could flip Democrat in November’s midterms, said Trump had gone beyond his mandate. He’s an army veteran and wrote: “Congress has the exclusive authority under the Constitution to declare war and authorise the use of force. The War Powers Act of 1973 delegates some of that authority to the president for a limited period of time. That authority has expired, and my support of this resolution tonight is consistent with my belief that it is time for Congress to decide the scope of the mission and the appropriate limits on the use of force in Iran.”

Democrats were all in. After the vote, Rep Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts posted: “We passed an Iran War Powers Resolution in the House to rein in Trump and end his unauthorised, reckless war. The Senate must immediately follow suit and act to end this war.”

Rep Shontel Brown of Ohio also weighed in: “Congress holds the power to declare war — not the executive branch. After months of chaos, higher costs, and wasted resources, it is time to end Trump’s costly war in Iran NOW.”

And costly it is. The Pentagon reckoned in May that $29bn had been spent so far. Some analysts think that’s lowballing it. A Harvard public finance expert said back in April it could top $1 trillion. There are also worries it’s draining US military preparedness.

As reported by cbinews.tv

Hashtags:

#USPolitics #Trump #Iran #WarPowers #HouseVote #Congress #Republicans #Democrats #cbinews