House thwarts war powers resolution against war in Iran

The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution to rein in President Trump’s military authority in Iran in a 214-213 vote on Thursday.

Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, voted with Democrats to pass it, while Rep. Jared Golden, Maine Democrat, voted with Republicans against the measure.

Rep. Warren Davidson, Ohio Republican, who voted to pass an Iran war powers resolution last month, voted present.

Rep. Gregory Meeks said the resolution would not have left America defenseless.

“It preserves the president’s authority to defend the United States and our allies from imminent attack. What it says — plainly and constitutionally — is that one person does not have the power to take this nation to war alone,” the New York Democrat said of his proposal.

Mr. Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the measure presented Congress with a choice: “We can assert our constitutional authority and demand a return to the only path that leads to lasting security — diplomacy, negotiation, verification and deterrence. Or we can surrender that authority and let this war grind on without accountability, without a strategy and without an end in sight.

“I choose diplomacy. I choose the Constitution. I choose to defend the principle that war is a last resort, not a first option.”

Fellow New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, said the president’s “costly and reckless war of choice” is to benefit only himself, not the affordability Americans need.

“So I just ask my Republican colleagues, debate us on the merits. Enough with the ad hominem attacks. It’s a sign of weakness, not strength. Take your position,” he said, adding that Democrats are “very comfortable that we’re standing on the side of the American people.”

He said if the U.S. is going to spend billions of taxpayer dollars, it should be “to make life more affordable for the American people.”

This comes a day after House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California said his party wanted to force a vote on the resolution to hold the Trump administration accountable and “put an end to this costly Middle East conflict.”

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, previously vowed to flood the floor with such measures until the war in Iran ends or Congress mandates that Mr. Trump seek congressional approval for further military action in Iran.

The House’s vote recommitted the bill, sending it back to committee as a last-ditch effort to kill or change it.