The House of Representatives voted 215-208 on Wednesday to invoke the War Powers Act and try to halt Donald Trump’s war on Iran, in the first successful congressional effort to force an end to the conflict. Four Republicans joined Democrats in backing the measure, giving lawmakers a narrow but unmistakable rebuke of Trump’s war policy.
The vote came as the war entered its fourth month after the United States and Israel ignited it on February 28, and after Trump failed to withdraw thousands of US troops deployed to fight the war at the 60-day mark around April 29. Under the War Powers Act, in force since 1973, the president is supposed to seek lawmakers’ approval before entering armed conflict, unless there is an imminent attack on the United States. If Congress does not declare war, troops are meant to come home within 60 days.
Democrats have tried three times since the war began to force the issue through the War Powers Act, and the previous two attempts failed. Wednesday’s vote was the first time they cleared the House, a sign that opposition inside Trump’s Republican Party has widened as the conflict’s economic and diplomatic costs have mounted. Critics of the war say the United States and Israel struck first; the Trump administration has argued that the military operations in Iran do not require congressional approval.
Even so, the House vote does not end the war on its own. Trump can veto the legislation, and Republicans still control both chambers, leaving Congress far short of a binding check on the president. The measure now moves into the familiar gap between a political rebuke and an enforceable order, with the unanswered question whether Trump will press ahead with new attacks on Iran while lawmakers remain unable to stop him.
