The House delivered a stinging rebuke to Donald Trump’s war in Iran and demanded the president end hostilities in the Middle East with the passage of a war powers resolution.
Trump’s war has become increasingly unpopular among voters, as it approaches six months since he first launched strikes and the administration fails to deliver a clear message on its path forward.
The final vote on Thursday on the resolution was 214 to 208, with four Republicans joining Democrats to condemn Trump’s war.
Republican Reps. Thomas Massie, Tom Barrett, Warren Davidson, and Brian Fitzpatrick voted for the resolution. Seven Republicans and two Democrats did not vote.
While the passage of the resolution in the House alone does not have the power to stop the president from waging war, and it faces a nearly impossible path forward, it is a stark reminder that the president does not have the backing of the House.
As the resolution passed, a cheer rang out in the House chamber among members of Congress who are fiercely against Trump’s war.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday will also force a vote on a war powers resolution against the war in Iran in the Senate in a move that could deliver a second blow for the president in one day over the conflict.
It comes as the U.S. carried out its twelfth consecutive night of strikes against Iran on Wednesday in a conflict that has no end in sight.
On Wednesday, Trump even threatened that the U.S. would potentially carry out war crimes by targeting Iranian plants and bridges for every Iranian attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
The House vote came after Iranian strikes killed four U.S. service members in the Middle East over the weekend, bringing the number of American casualties in the war to 18. Hundreds have also been wounded.
Trump attended the dignified transfer of U.S. service members at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday before jetting to a campaign-style rally in Georgia where he referred to the war as a “skirmish” and insisted Iran wanted to make a deal before later dancing on stage to the YMCA.
But the Trump administration is seeking $70 billion in taxpayer funds for the war from Congress as Americans struggle to make ends meet, with the conflict driving up prices back home.
The national average price for a gallon of gas ticked up above $4 again this week, according to GasBuddy.com, which warned the national average could reach $4.25 to $4.40 in the next couple of weeks.
The House’s passage of the war powers resolution came right before members skip town for a five-week recess, and they do not return until August 31, but they could face increasing wrath over the war back in their districts with just months to go before the midterms.
A recent poll by Politico found that support for the war has dramatically dropped even among Trump voters. Support among those who identify as MAGA dropped from 50 percent in May to 37 percent in July. Nearly one in five MAGA voters said the war should not continue.
