US House also rejects restraint on Trump’s war power in Iran
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on March 3, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — House Republicans and a handful of Democrats followed the Senate in blocking a measure Thursday to stop President Donald Trump from furthering the war in Iran without authorization from Congress.
The joint war with Israel that began six days ago has already claimed the lives of six U.S. troops and injured and killed dozens of civilians across Israel and the Persian Gulf nations. Iranian officials say more than 1,000 have been killed since Saturday, according to multiple reports.
The War Powers Resolution sponsored by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., failed in a 212-219 vote. Massie was the lone Republican to sign on to the measure.
Massie and Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, broke ranks with Republicans to vote in favor of limiting Trump’s hand in Iran. But Democrats Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, Jared Golden, D-Maine, Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Juan Vargas, D-Calif., joined the majority of Republicans in opposing the War Powers Resolution.
Golden issued a statement following the vote saying he is reluctant to support a halt to the current fighting, despite Trump’s lack of clarity.
Servicemembers are “actively engaged in hostilities, our allies are under attack and the Iranian regime is more desperate than ever to reassert its power. While I do not believe that an abrupt about-face is a good course of action given the reality on the ground, that should not be construed as my approval,” Golden said.
Davidson wrote on social media Monday that he wants to “review the intelligence behind the Iran strikes. I’m open to being persuaded these strikes were necessary. But I do not support a regime-change war, and any boots on the ground or prolonged conflict requires authorization from Congress.”
House lawmakers otherwise split along party lines, with Republicans offering resounding support for the intervention.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., described the War Powers Resolution as a “a terrible, dangerous idea.”
During debate on the House floor Wednesday, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., said Trump “is utilizing his constitutional Article II authority to defend the United States of America against that imminent threat that we agree upon.”
Mast sponsored a separate, symbolic resolution reaffirming Iran as the largest state-sponsor of terrorism. The measure passed Thursday in a 372-53 vote. Two members voted present. All who voted “no” or present were Democrats.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who argued for the War Powers Resolution on the floor Wednesday, said the U.S. is now involved in a conflict with Iran “at President Trump’s own behest.”
“What is the strategy for preventing regional escalation, and what is the plan for the day after? What will this cost the American people? Because the American people deserve those answers, and Congress deserves a vote,” Meeks said.
House vote echoes Senate
A similar War Powers Resolution failed in the U.S. Senate Wednesday when all but one Republican, Kentucky’s Rand Paul, voted against it. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only Democrat to join Republicans in opposing the measure.
Republicans, joined by Fetterman, have blocked other attempts to rein in Trump’s military interventions during his second term. A War Powers Resolution to stop Trump from further operations in Venezuela failed in the House and Senate in January.
The U.S. apprehended Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on Jan. 3 on drug trafficking and weapons charges. Maduro remains in U.S. custody while awaiting trial. His arrest followed months of a U.S. bombing campaign on alleged small drug boats in the Caribbean Sea that have killed more than 130 people, according to the human rights-focused Washington Office on Latin America, which has joined a chorus of critics who argue the strikes are illegal.
Congress overrode a veto by President Richard Nixon in 1973 during the ongoing Vietnam War to pass the War Powers Resolution as a check on presidential power
Strikes continue
U.S. and Israel continued strikes on Iran Thursday.
Trump urged all Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps members and police to lay down their arms and “accept immunity.” Otherwise, they’ll face “absolute guaranteed death,” he said at an unrelated White House event Thursday afternoon.
“We also urge Iranian diplomats around the world to request asylum and to help us shape a new and better Iran with great potential,” Trump said.
The war widened its reach as Azerbaijani officials said two drones from Iran struck an airport and other civilian targets inside the NATO ally’s borders.
“These acts of aggression will not remain unanswered,” according to a statement Thursday from Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News Wednesday night that if the U.S. launches a ground invasion, “we are confident that we can confront them, and that would be a big disaster for them.”
White House press secretary told reporters Wednesday American ground troops are “not part of the current plan” but did not rule out that it’s an option “on the table.”
All six U.S. troops killed by an Iranian drone in Kuwait Sunday have been identified by the Pentagon.
Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.