Lawmakers voted 215–208 for the Democrat-led measure to remove U.S. troops from armed hostilities with Iran.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. House, on June 3, passed a resolution to withdraw U.S. troops from armed hostilities with Iran.
Lawmakers voted 215–208 for the Democrat-led measure. Four Republicans voted with Democrats in support of the resolution.
The measure invokes the 1973 War Powers Resolution to halt the Iran conflict or otherwise force U.S. President Donald Trump to obtain congressional approval to continue the military operations against Iran that began on Feb. 28.
Lawmakers in the House and U.S. Senate have raised multiple previous failed attempts to pass such legislation to constrain Trump’s war-making authority in the current conflict. This is the first time such a measure has passed in either chamber since the conflict began.
The Senate would still need to pass this latest measure for it to have a chance of becoming law, and Trump could still issue a veto.
A previous resolution to halt the Iran conflict failed in the House on May 14 in a 212–212 tie vote. Democrats had set a follow-up attempt in motion, with a vote scheduled on May 21, but Republican leaders in the House were able to cancel the vote at the last minute, amid growing signs it could pass.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the timing of the Democrat-led resolution could interfere with Trump’s efforts to negotiate a lasting peace agreement with Tehran.
“The president is now in the process of concluding a peace agreement, and we have to allow him the latency to do that,” Johnson told The Epoch Times ahead of the scheduled vote. “And I think a war powers resolution right now is very untimely and a very negative and dangerous thing in the country.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said Congress should have already acted to pull U.S. forces back from the Iran conflict.
The 1973 War Powers Resolution states that a president must remove U.S. forces from any hostilities lacking congressional authorization within 60 days. However, a president may extend that timeline by 30 days to enable a safe troop withdrawal.
Washington and Tehran officially reached a ceasefire on April 7, but Trump subsequently implemented an armed blockade of Iranian ports and trade, and U.S. and Iranian forces have exchanged fire on several occasions.
U.S. forces launched a missile at the engine room of an oil tanker on June 2, as part of their blockade enforcement operations. Within hours, Iranian forces launched multiple waves of missile and drone attacks at Kuwait and Bahrain, including salvos targeting U.S. military outposts in those two Gulf states.
Asked if she expected enough Republicans would join in support of the latest war powers vote, DeLauro told The Epoch Times, “I’m hoping that they will see the light.”
By Ryan Morgan and Nathan Worcester
