Four House Republicans Defy Trump and Push War Powers Resolution Over the Finish Line in Stinging Rebuke

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

The House of Representatives delivered a stinging rebuke to President Donald Trump on Wednesday as four Republicans crossed the aisle to pass a war powers resolution regarding the conflict in Iran.

The House was supposed to vote on the measure on May 21, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pulled it from the floor when it appeared that not enough Republicans would be present to vote against it. But on Wednesday, the measure passed as just enough Republicans voted in favor of the resolution, which directs Trump to withdraw U.S. military assets from the war on Iran.

The vote was 215-208. Every House Democrat voted for the resolution, as did four Republicans: Reps. Tom Barrett (MI); Warren Davidson (R-OH); Brian Fitzpatrick (PA); and Thomas Massie (KY).

A similar measure is being considered in the Republican-controlled Senate. Even if the resolution were to pass the Senate, the president can – and almost certainly would – veto it.

Nevertheless, Wednesday’s largely symbolic vote is a sign of how unpopular Trump’s war on Iran is. Last month, an ABC-Washington Post poll revealed that the war, which Trump launched with Israel on Feb. 28, is more unpopular than the Vietnam and Iraq wars, both of which are broadly considered foreign policy disasters. Sixty-one percent of Americans say the war is a “mistake,” and just 19% say the campaign has been successful.

When asked about the war’s unpopularity last week, Trump said he does not care.

“They have 250% inflation,” the president said of Iran. “Their money has no value. Their whole economic system is broken down. They thought they were gonna outwait me, you know. ‘We’ll outwait him. He’s got the midterms.’ I don’t care about the midterms.”

“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump added, reiterating his claim that the country was close to building a nuclear weapon, despite U.S. intelligence assessments to the contrary.

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