(Adnkronos) – With the votes of four Republicans who joined the Democratic minority, the House approved a war powers resolution aimed at limiting Donald Trump’s military action with Iran. With 214 votes in favor and 208 against, the resolution presented by Pramila Jayapal passed; in her speech in the chamber, she had called for a “vote of conscience”.
“This is a vote that asks us to do what is right for the American people and send the clearest and strongest message to the President of the United States that Congress, the House, reaffirms its authority over war, this war must end,” continued the left-wing Democratic representative.
Today’s vote comes almost two weeks after the resumption of hostilities between the United States and Iran, hostilities in which four American soldiers have been killed in recent days, bringing the number of American casualties to 18 since Trump launched the war on Iran last February. It is not the first time that resolutions invoking the War Powers Act, the law approved in 1973 which requires the president to withdraw troops within 60 days of the start of hostilities unless there is a declaration of war by Congress, have been passed in Congress.
The same four Republican representatives who allowed today’s resolution to pass – Tom Barrett, Warren Davidson, Thomas Massie, and Brian Fitzpatrick – supported a similar measure approved last June. The same resolution, thanks to the votes of four Republican majority senators – Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Bill Cassidy – then passed a few days later in the Senate.
The leader of the Democratic minority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, announced yesterday that today he will try to force another vote in the chamber on the war in Iran. “Every senator must make a choice, you cannot say that we support the troops and then leave them trapped in a war that has no objective and no end – said the Democrat with a speech clearly aimed at putting Republicans, who will face difficult electoral duels in the November elections, in a difficult position – you cannot declare victory while the battlefield continues to expand, you cannot hide the wounded and talk about peace.”
