The Republicans Who Have Broken With Their Party to Support Limiting Trump’s Iran War Powers
Time · LC · trust 44/100
The House on Thursday narrowly voted to restrict President Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran for a second time, with four Republicans again breaking ranks with their party to push the measure over the line.
Lawmakers passed a concurrent resolution calling for a halt to any military action in Iran without congressional approval in a 214-208 vote. The move is a largely symbolic rebuke against the President and the ongoing conflict; even if the measure passed the Senate as well, it would not go to Trump’s desk and would carry no force of law.
But the vote for the measure underlines opposition to the war even from some members of the President’s party. It comes as the U.S. has completed its twelfth consecutive night of strikes against Iran after a cease-fire fell apart and attacks resumed from both sides earlier this month.
The Republicans who voted in support of the resolution on Thursday were Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Tom Barrett of Michigan, and Warren Davidson of Ohio. The vast majority of GOP House members , however, once more voted against constraining Trump’s war authority.
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who led the resolution, called Thursday’s vote one of “ conscience ” while speaking on the House floor.
“This is a vote that requires us to find the strength to do what is right for the American people,” she said, “and to send the clearest, even stronger message to this president of the United States that the United States Congress, the House of Representatives, is reasserting our authority over war. This war must end.”
The lower chamber previously passed a similar war powers resolution last month, with the support of the same four Republican lawmakers. Later in June, the Senate approved its own resolution calling for restricting Trump’s war powers for the first time since the conflict began after blocking such measures several times.
Trump called the House’s passage of the earlier resolution “meaningless” and “unpatriotic” in a social media post after the June vote. He has repeatedly gone after GOP lawmakers who have voted in favor of constraining his war powers.
Since approving the resolution late last month, the Senate has once again rejected multiple similar measures. It did so again on Thursday in a 49-47 vote; Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the sole Republican to join Democrats to vote in support of advancing the resolution.
Here are all the Republicans that have voted to rein in Trump’s war powers in Iran since the start of the conflict.
Massie has voted in favor of every Iran war powers resolution brought to a vote in the House.
“American servicemen and women are dying, and gas and fertilizer prices are soaring. It’s time to end this war,” Massie wrote on X following the passing of the resolution on Thursday, which he touted on his account.
Fitzpatrick initially voted against a resolution to restrict Trump’s war powers in Iran in March, calling it “irresponsibly drafted and dangerously overbroad,” though he stated that “any sustained or expanded military engagement should be done with the advice and consent of Congress.”
Later, in April, he introduced his own resolution that proposed a phased-out withdrawal of troops.
In May, after Trump pushed past the 60-day deadline established under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 for a President to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities if Congress has not granted authorization, Fitzpatrick voted in favor of a resolution to restrict his war powers. “We must keep the world safe, and we must also follow the law,” he said , referencing to the neglected deadline.
Barrett supported Trump over the Iran War earlier in the conflict, voting against previous resolutions to restrict the President’s war powers and sa ying in early March that Trump had “earned the opportunity to resolve this conflict quickly and with minimal casualties.” He also praised the President’s killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the outset of the war.
In May, however, Barrett introduced an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to define the objectives of the war and provide a deadline for its end, offering 90 days for Trump to complete his goals.
“The United States of America cannot be dragged into another endless war,” he said at the time.
Since then, he has voted in favor of the war powers resolutions that have been brought to a vote in the House.
Davidson has had a less consistent record than other House Republicans on the issue, having voted “present” rather than “yes” and against previous resolutions as well as voting affirmatively for others.
The Ohio lawmaker, who is a former U.S. Army Ranger, has not said much publicly explaining the apparent shifts in his stance, but expresses the view on the “National Security” page on his website that the Constitution “gives Congress the solemn responsibility to authorize military action.”
“When American servicemembers are put in harm’s way, Congress should debate the mission, define the objective, and ensure our servicemembers know that their elected representatives have their back,” the page continues.
Collins opposed an earlier war powers resolution in early March, arguing that it would “send the wrong message to Iran and to our troops.”
But the Maine lawmaker has since changed her tune. In addition to casting the sole GOP vote to advance the measure on Thursday, she was one of four Republican Senators who voted in favor of the war powers resolution that passed in the upper chamber last month. Trump called the group “four Republican Losers” in a Truth Social post at the time.
“These Senators have just made my job more difficult,” he said.
Collins has expressed her disapproval over the war in Iran since late April, referencing the 60-day deadline that Trump then passed over.
“The War Powers Act establishes a clear 60-day deadline for Congress to either authorize or end U.S. involvement in foreign hostilities,” she said in a statement…
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