US House Republicans cancel Iran war powers vote

WASHINGTON, USA – Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives unexpectedly canceled a planned vote on Thursday, May 21, on a resolution seeking to end the Iran war unless President Donald Trump secures congressional authorization, two days after a similar measure advanced in the Senate.

The vote had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon before lawmakers left Washington for the Memorial Day recess.

The House had blocked three previous war powers resolutions in close votes earlier this year, with near-unanimous Republican support reflecting strong backing within the party for both the Iran war and Trump.

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But margins had narrowed in recent weeks as the conflict dragged on after the US and Israel began strikes on Iran on February 28. Thursday’s measure appeared likely to pass amid expected defections by several Republicans and the absence of others.

“We had the votes without question, and they knew it,” Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee, told reporters after the vote was canceled.

Meeks said Republican leaders postponed the vote until early June, after the Memorial Day recess.

Democrats, joined by a handful of Republicans, have urged Trump to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force, arguing that the US Constitution grants Congress — not the president — the power to declare war.

They have also raised concerns that Trump may have drawn the country into a prolonged conflict without laying out a clear strategy.

Most Republicans and the White House maintain that Trump’s actions are legal and fall within his authority as commander in chief to protect the United States through limited military operations aimed at stopping imminent threats.

Republicans hold narrow majorities in both the House and Senate.

On Tuesday, May 19, the Senate advanced a separate but similar war powers resolution in a rare rebuke of Trump. The procedural vote passed 50-47, with four Republicans joining nearly all Democrats in support. Three Republicans missed the vote. – Rappler.com