House Democrats on Thursday nearly won a vote to end President Trump’s war with Iran, though one of their own helped defeat it on a technicality.
Three House Republicans joined all but one Democrat in voting for the war powers resolution to end hostilities with Iran. The measure failed in a 212-212 tie vote.
Two of those Republicans, Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, voted against their party’s position on the war for the first time after President Trump failed to meet a 60-day legal deadline to obtain congressional authorization.
A similar vote in the Senate failed on Wednesday but picked up one new Republican supporter, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Mr. Trump views the deadline-setting War Powers Act as unconstitutional but still notified Congress on the 60th day that he viewed hostilities against Iran as “terminated” in light of a ceasefire, which has since been broken.
Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the only Democrat to vote against the war powers resolution, although he believes the president’s window for unilateral military engagement has closed.
“Hostilities, including the use of the U.S. fleet to impose a blockade of Iranian ports, cannot legally continue unless the president seeks, and wins, congressional approval,” he said.
Mr. Golden’s opposition to the war powers resolution was based solely on a technicality.
The measure, filed in March, gave the president 30 days from the Feb. 28 start of the conflict to remove armed forces unless he obtains congressional authorization for the war.
That deadline has long passed, as has the War Powers Act’s 60-day deadline.
“I supported this resolution when it was introduced, but unfortunately its proposed 30-day deadline lacks any real meaning now that we are more than 70 days into this conflict,” Mr. Golden said. “It no longer passes the straight-face test.”
He said he would vote for a “clean, relevant” war powers resolution. Democrats have one in the offing they are expected to force a vote on next week.
Republicans can still defeat that measure even if Mr. Golden flips. They just need higher attendance. Four GOP lawmakers missed Thursday’s vote, while only two Democrats were absent.
Before Thursday’s vote, Mr. Barrett had signaled his view that Congress needs to have a say by introducing a 90-day authorization for use of military force.
The measure explicitly prevented both boots on the ground, except for rescue and intelligence missions, and nation-building efforts in Iran.
It defines the war’s objective as defeating Iran’s nuclear weapons program, combatting imminent threats to U.S. armed forces or facilities, and enforcing the Strait of Hormuz blockade against Iranian ships.
“The commander in chief has the sole authority to lead our troops in wartime, but I’ve lost too many friends on the battlefield to allow that to happen without Congress exercising its constitutional role to clearly define the mission with safeguards and a deadline,” said Mr. Barrett, an Army veteran who served in Iraq. “If we don’t learn from our foreign policy failures of the past, we are bound to repeat them.”
