White House Cheers Congress’ Green Light for Iran Conflict
White House cheers after House blocks a war powers resolution to stop Trump’s Iran strikes, as 4 Democrats break ranks and tensions over the Iran conflict grow.
The White House has praised the US House of Representatives for rejecting President Donald Trump's attempt to halt military action in Iran, a day after a similar move was rejected in the Senate.
The House's War Powers Resolution – which was rejected by a narrow vote of 219-212 – was largely symbolic and had little hope of surviving a presidential veto.
Democrats have criticized Trump for launching an attack without congressional approval and questioned whether the US faces the kind of "imminent" threat that would justify the president personally ordering an attack.
The US and Israel launched military action last Saturday, and it is unclear how long the fighting could last.
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In a statement following the House vote on Thursday, the White House said: "Congress has reaffirmed the Commander-in-Chief's constitutional authority to protect the American people from the Iranian regime's murderous desires and imminent threats." Four Democrats—Jared Golden of Maine, Greg Landsman of Ohio, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Juan Vargas of California—left their party to help Republicans defeat the War Powers Resolution.
Two Republicans—Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio—left their party to join Democrats in supporting the legislation.
Davidson, an Army veteran, said in a statement: "President Trump's America First message was about rejecting the globalist war machine."
If the resolution had passed Congress, it would have halted US military action in Iran until lawmakers deliberated on whether to approve it.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, who had urged Congress to vote against the act, praised the outcome, saying that passing it would have been "a huge mistake on Congress's part."
He said, "We are not at war." "We have no intention of being at war. This is a limited operation."
Democrats in both houses of Congress have argued that Trump ignored congressional opinion and provided vague reasons and motives for the war, which the White House has denied.
Some Republicans in the House and Senate said that while they have blocked the resolution for now, they may change course if the war escalates or becomes prolonged.
At the White House on Thursday, Trump said the US is attacking Iranian drone and missile capabilities "every single hour."
"So they have no Air Force, they have no air defense," he said. "All their airplanes are gone, their communications are gone."
Trump said Iran was "calling and asking how we can make a deal."
"I say you're taking a little while," the president said. "We want to fight them more right now."
Although the president has broad authority to initiate military action without a formal declaration of war, the law requires Congress to be notified within 48 hours of the start of hostilities.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that the Trump administration has complied with that requirement.
Speaker Johnson has stated that the Trump administration notified the so-called Gang of Eight—a bipartisan group of the top eight congressional leaders—prior to the attacks.
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