Seven congressional Republicans have broken with Donald Trump to call on the president to end the war on Iran.
In a 220-204 vote on Tuesday, the House approved a war powers resolution calling for an end to all further military action in the Middle East without congressional approval.
Seven Republican representatives—Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Tom Barrett of Michigan, and Iowa’s Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn—joined all present Democrats in backing the resolution.
This is the third time the House has voted to call on Trump to end his war. In the previous effort in July, only four Republicans backed the measure, in the latest sign that the GOP is becoming increasingly aware of just how politically poisonous Trump’s conflict could be on Nov. 3.
“Having deployed multiple times and flown over 700 combat hours in the Middle East, I will not support another open-ended war,” Rep. Nunn, a former Air Force officer, posted on X.
“We can defend Americans, pressure Iran, and pursue peace while ensuring Congress fulfills its constitutional responsibility.”
The war on Iran has dragged on for more than six months, with no end in sight, and has resulted in the deaths of 18 service members.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping route has caused a global oil crisis, sending gas and diesel prices soaring in the U.S. and exacerbating financial hardship for tens of millions of Americans.
On Tuesday, the Defense Department’s inspector general found that the war had cost more than $33 billion in the first four months alone. This includes around $3.7 billion in damaged and destroyed military aircraft and equipment, as well as rapidly dwindling stockpiles of munitions. A separate Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report showed that the conflict had cost at least $38 billion.
Each war powers resolution is essentially symbolic, since Trump can veto such a measure.
None of the previous resolutions made it to the president’s desk, with the Senate rejecting one in June after several Republicans who had expressed opposition to the war were berated by Trump during a closed-door meeting.
However, with the midterms less than 50 days away, Democrats will see Tuesday’s vote as another key sign of opposition to Trump’s war and how damaging it could be for the GOP in the midterms.
“Remember when Donald Trump said that this war would last just a few weeks?” said Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, who served as a Marine during the Iraq War, before Tuesday’s vote.
He added that it was time for Congress to “actually ask tough questions, as the Constitution directs us to do, rather than be subservient to another warmongering administration.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
