In a first, House votes to block Trump from ordering more strikes on Iran

WASHINGTON - The House passed a resolution Wednesday to block President Donald Trump from ordering further strikes on Iran, ratcheting up pressure on the administration to find a way to end the unpopular war.

The 215-208 vote marked the first time such a measure has cleared the House or the Senate on a final vote since the start of the conflict more than three months ago. The Senate advanced a similar resolution last month on a procedural vote, reflecting growing impatience with a war Congress hasn’t authorized.

The effort faces sizable hurdles, however, before Congress could force Trump to end hostilities.

In the House, four Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (Kentucky), Tom Barrett (Michigan), Warren Davidson (Ohio) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania) — joined Democrats in voting to force Trump to end the war.

Later Wednesday, the House bucked Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) on a second foreign policy issue, voting 218-204 to advance a bill that would provide Ukraine $8 billion in loans and $300 million in long-term security aid. The legislation still requires a final vote before heading to the Senate.

The bill, which would also impose additional sanctions on Russia’s finance and energy sectors, came to the floor only after six Republicans broke ranks and sided with Democrats to support the effort.

Democrats have forced repeated votes on war powers resolutions in both chambers since the start of the conflict, which polling shows is unpopular. A New York Times-Siena College poll conducted in mid-May found that 64 percent of registered voters think Trump made the wrong decision in going to war with Iran; 30 percent believe he made the right decision.

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 — the law Democrats used to force the vote — requires presidents to remove U.S. forces from any conflict that Congress has not authorized within 60 days. Trump hit the deadline May 1 but dodged it by arguing that hostilities have been “terminated” since a ceasefire took effect, even as the United States continues to enforce a naval blockade of Iran.

To reach Trump’s desk, the Senate resolution would require a final vote in the chamber, which could be tough if every senator is voting. Three Republican senators who had opposed similar measures in the past missed the procedural vote on the resolution last month, allowing it to advance. If they had voted the way they had in the past, it would have failed 50-50.

The House would also need to pass the Senate version before it reached Trump’s desk. Trump would almost certainly veto it, forcing the Senate and the House to override his veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers before the resolution could take effect. No war powers resolution has ever overcome a veto. (Source: The Washington Post)