The House on Thursday approved a Democratic-led war powers resolution aimed at restricting President Trump's military operations in Iran, with four Republicans providing the decisive votes.
The measure, sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and forced to the floor with Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), passed 214-208. Joining every Democrat were Reps. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) - the same quartet that crossed the aisle on a similar resolution last month.
It will not end the war, or slow it. The measure is a concurrent resolution, meaning it never reaches the president's desk for signature or veto and carries no force of law. Both chambers passed comparable measures in June. The war continued. This one is a message, delivered twice.
The vote comes as the death toll among U.S. service members climbs. Eighteen troops have been killed since the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in February - four of them since July 17. U.S. forces have sustained nearly 500 injuries, roughly 100 in the past two weeks, according to the Pentagon. On Wednesday, Trump participated in a dignified transfer ceremony for three service members killed in Jordan and Iraq.
Jayapal framed the resolution as a reassertion of congressional authority. "This is a vote of conscience," she said on the House floor Wednesday. "This war must end." Afterward she added: "Congress has not been consulted. And hostilities have been driven over and over again by a president who won his election by promising to end forever wars."
Republicans who oppos
