U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on March 3, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans and a handful of Democrats followed in the Senate and blocked a measure Thursday to stop President Donald Trump from pushing ahead with war in Iran without congressional approval.
The joint war with Israel, which began six days ago, has already claimed the lives of six US soldiers and injured and killed dozens of civilians across Israel and the Gulf states. Iranian officials say more than 1,000 people have been killed since Saturday, according to multiple reports.
Submitted by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., sponsored War Powers Resolution failed in one 212-219 Vote. Massie was the only Republican to join in measure.
Massie and Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, split with Republicans and voted to limit Trump’s influence in Iran. But Democrats Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, Jared Golden, D-Maine, Henry Cuellar, D-Texas and Juan Vargas, D-Calif. joined the majority of Republicans in opposing the War Powers Resolution.
Golden issued a statement after the vote saying that despite Trump’s lack of clarity, he was unwilling to support a cessation of the current fighting.
Military personnel “are actively engaged in hostilities, our allies are under attack, and the Iranian regime is more desperate than ever to regain its power. While I do not believe that an abrupt about-face is a good course of action given the reality on the ground, this should not be construed as my endorsement,” Golden said.
Davidson wrote He said on social media Monday that he wanted to “review the intelligence behind the attacks in Iran. I am open to being convinced that these attacks were necessary. But I do not support a war for regime change, and any on-the-ground deployment or prolonged conflict requires congressional authorization.”
Otherwise, House members split along party lines, with Republican proposals resounding Support for the procedure.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., described the War Powers Resolution as “a terrible, dangerous idea.”
During debate in the House on Wednesday, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Florida, said Trump was “using his constitutional authority under Article II to defend the United States of America against the imminent threat on which we agree.”
Mast sponsored a separate, symbolic event resolution Reaffirming Iran’s role as the largest state sponsor of terrorism. The measure passed in one on Thursday 372-53 Vote. Two members voted present. Everyone who voted “no” or was present were Democrats.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who argued locally for the War Powers Resolution on Wednesday, said the U.S. is now embroiled in one Conflict with Iran “at President Trump’s own request.”
“What is the strategy to prevent regional escalation and what is the plan for the day after? What is this going to cost the American people? Because the American people deserve these answers and Congress deserves a vote,” Meeks said.
The vote in the House of Representatives is the same as in the Senate
A similar War Powers Resolution failed on Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, when all but one Republican, Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against it. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only Democrat to join Republicans in their opposition to the measure.
Republicans have joined Fetterman in blocking further attempts to curb Trump’s military interventions during his second term. A War Powers resolution to stop Trump from further operations in Venezuela failed House And senate in January.
The United States arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on drug trafficking and weapons charges on January 3. Maduro remains in US custody awaiting trial. His arrest followed a months-long U.S. bombing campaign targeting alleged compact drug boats in the Caribbean Sea that killed more than 130 people. after to the human rights-focused Washington Office for Latin America, which has joined a chorus of critics who say the attacks are illegal.
Congress overrode a veto by President Richard Nixon to pass the law in 1973, during the ongoing Vietnam War Dissolution of the war powers as a check on presidential power
The strikes continue
The US and Israel continued their attacks on Iran on Thursday.
Trump called on all members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and police to lay down their weapons and “accept immunity.” Otherwise they will face “absolutely guaranteed death,” he said Thursday afternoon at an unrelated event at the White House.
“We also call on Iranian diplomats around the world to seek asylum and help us shape a new and better Iran with great potential,” Trump said.
The war expanded its reach as Azerbaijani officials said two drones from Iran hit an airport and other civilian targets within the NATO ally’s borders.
“These acts of aggression will not go unanswered,” said a opinion Thursday from the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News On Wednesday evening it said that if the US were to launch a ground invasion, “we are confident that we can counter them, and that would be a major catastrophe for them.”
The White House press secretary told reporters on Wednesday that American ground troops were “not part of the current plan” but did not rule out that option being “on the table.”
All six US soldiers were killed by an Iranian drone in Kuwait on Sunday identified from the Pentagon.
Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.
