The vote will certainly not end the war in the Middle East, but it is nonetheless a setback for Donald Trump. The American House of Representatives, with a Republican majority, approved on Wednesday June 3 a resolution aimed at preventing the President of the United States from continuing his operations against Iran, reflecting the growing concern of members of his party in the face of this conflict which has lasted for three months.
The House voted 215-208, with four Republicans voting with Democrats in favor of the war powers resolution, which orders Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. troops unless Congress declares war or authorizes the use of military force. This is the latest snub for Donald Trump in Congress, despite the small majority his party has in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
For the moment, this vote is mainly symbolic, because the law must be adopted by the Senate and the House of Representatives to come into force, and the question of the constitutionality of the resolutions on the war powers, even approved by Congress, is debated. Donald Trump has more than one presidential veto he could use.
Growing unease
This vote nevertheless testifies to the uneasiness of certain Republicans regarding the management of the conflict by the tenant of the White House, and constitutes a rare bipartisan effort to limit the war powers of the latter, as the conflict enters its fourth month. Three previous resolutions on war powers had been rejected by the House of Representatives by increasingly narrow margins, and Republican leaders in that chamber abruptly postponed a vote on the one passed Wednesday last month, even though it seemed poised for passage.
The Senate passed a separate but similar resolution in a procedural vote in May after seven previous attempts failed. No further votes on the measure have yet been scheduled.
The four House Republicans who voted for the war powers resolution are Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. No Democrats voted against. Seven members of the House of Representatives abstained.
“An important turning point”
“Today’s adoption of this resolution on war powers marks an important turning point: more and more Republicans are listening to their voters who do not want another endless war in the Middle East,” responded Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks, behind the resolution on war powers and ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, in a press release after the vote.
Democrats urged Donald Trump to ask Congress for authorization to use military force in the Iranian conflict, noting that the U.S. Constitution states that only the legislature, not the president, can declare war. They warned that Donald Trump risked dragging the country into a long conflict without defining a clear strategy and also denounced the rise in prices of gasoline, food and other products since the start of joint American-Israeli airstrikes against Iran on February 28.
The Trump administration, for its part, insists that war against Iran is necessary for the national security of the United States, citing the urgency of preventing the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons. Republican critics of the war powers resolutions describe them as political posturing on the part of the opposing camp, accused of seeking to weaken the United States and score points against Donald Trump.
