4 House Republicans rebel against Trump, vote with Dems to block Iran war powers
House Democrats successfully rebuked President Donald Trump’s war in Iran on Thursday morning, with the help of several Republican lawmakers.
Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., forced a vote to halt Trump’s military campaign absent congressional approval in a vote of 214-208, with lawmakers largely voting along party lines.
Republicans who supported the Democrat-authored measure included Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Tom Barrett, R-Mich., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Massie and Davidson are sharp critics of foreign intervention, while Fitzpatrick and Barrett — two moderate Republicans — are facing competitive re-election bids.
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A similar resolution passed the House in June with help from the same four defecting Republicans.
"My position hasn't changed," Barrett, an Army veteran and freshman lawmaker, told Fox News Digital in a statement. "Only Congress has the authority to authorize military action in Iran."
"I remain ready to work with anyone to eliminate hostile threats to our nation without getting us into another endless war," he added.
Thursday's vote is largely symbolic, and the resolution will not go to Trump’s desk for signature if the Senate chamber were also to pass it.
But Democrats' war powers effort underscores that the war in Iran is continuing to divide Republicans, several of whom have complained the White House has not given enough visibility to Congress about the military’s actions.
Just 34% of voters approve of Trump's handling of Iran, according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday.
Trump and his allies, however, have indicated they are undeterred in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The vote comes as Trump is reportedly weighing whether to escalate the conflict after Iranian forces killed several U.S. service members in Jordan and Iraq over the weekend.
U.S. forces completed its 12th consecutive night of strikes on Iran targeting maritime capabilities and air defense assets among other military infrastructure, CENTCOM announced Wednesday.
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"U.S. forces remain vigilant," CENTCOM wrote in a social media post Thursday.
Democrats forced a vote on a war powers resolution aimed at disapproving the Middle East conflict using a mechanism called a privileged resolution, which allows rank-and-file lawmakers to move legislation over the opposition of House GOP leadership.
Crow, an Army veteran, said in a statement, "18 American servicemembers have been killed since this war began. Hundreds more have been injured. Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent. The President’s war with Iran has been an unmitigated disaster."
"The costs are rising every day, yet the President is choosing to double down on his failures," he continued.
The vote is one of several instances this year of House Republicans rebuking Trump and his policies, a symbol of the razor-thin majorities the GOP holds in Congress.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., took a victory lap following the successful war powers vote Thursday.
"Donald Trump and Republicans have failed the American people, which is why they clearly are on the run and are on the verge of losing control of the House of Representatives," he said during a news conference.
Trump ripped the four GOP defectors following the successful war powers vote in June, calling them "unpatriotic."