House approves limiting Trump’s Iran war powers

WASHINGTON — A resolution to limit President Donald Trump’s authority to order military action against Iran without congressional approval passed the House on a nearly party line vote Thursday following a heated debate among lawmakers over recent administration actions.

The House voted 224-194 to approve the resolution, which would require the president to receive congressional consent for further military action against Iran. Three Republicans joined the Democratic majority and eight Democrats voting in opposition. Nevada’s congressional delegation voted along party lines.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called for the vote on the war powers resolution over concerns about the president’s decision to order a U.S. drone strike in Iraq last week that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Pelosi said lawmakers were dissatisfied with the lack of information from the administration on the “decision to engage in hostilities against Iran and about its lack of strategy moving forward.”

“Last week, in our view, the administration conducted a provocative disproportionate airstrike against Iran which endangered Americans, and did so without consulting Congress,” Pelosi told a weekly news conference.

Hours before the vote Trump in a tweet urged Republicans to vote against “Crazy Nancy’s War Powers Resolution.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the resolution would weaken the U.S. weaker on the world stage, and he led the barrage of attacks on Democrats that questioned their patriotism.

“This is a meaningless vote that only sends the wrong message, that the House Democrats would rather stand with their socialist base than stand against Iran,” he said.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., was among those speaking in favor of the resolution, saying, “The American people have no appetite for war with Iran and neither do I.”

“We can’t allow President Trump to entangle the U.S. in a costly, unnecessary war that would put our troops’ lives at risk,” Titus said.

She and fellow Nevada Democrats, Reps Steven Horsford and Susie Lee, voted to pass the resolution.

Trump appeared before the nation in a televised address from the White House on Wednesday to calm fears of military escalation after Iran launched a missile strike on U.S. military installations in Iraq in retaliation for the death of the general.

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said he was satisfied with the president’s actions and the tone of his comments about the strike and voted against the resolution.

But Trump’s remarks, and a briefing from national security officials for members of Congress on Wednesday left Democrats and some Republicans disgruntled about what they called a lack of information about an imminent threat against U.S. personnel cited by the White House to justify the timing of the attack.

Critical lawmakers said the administration also failed to outline future military objectives and plans to deter further attacks on U.S. installations by Iran, thereby endangering American lives in the Middle East.

A similar resolution filed by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate where GOP lawmakers have largely supported Trump’s action to strike Soleimani.

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said following the briefing by national security officials Wednesday that any further military action by the administration should include consultation with Congress.

The lack of information on plans to protect U.S. military personnel against future Iranian attacks left Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., demanding more information from the administration and national security officials.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, led the GOP opposition to the House resolution saying it “plays politics with national security.”

McCaul called the the strike on the general “self defense,” and noted that Soleimani was responsible for plotting 12 attacks on U.S. assets in the Middle East in the past two months.

Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., acknowledged that there was no doubt Soleimani was a “bad guy” who had cost thousands of lives, but he said the administration’s “fly by your pants foreign policy” has left the U.S. in a crisis not faced in years.

He said the president’s actions had placed the country at the brink of war.

“We are denying the president the authority to wage such a war,” Engel said.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.