Vote was 219 to 212, in House, where Trump\u2019s fellow Republicans control a narrow majority of seats
\n WASHINGTON
\nThe US House of Representatives rejected an effort on Thursday to stop President Donald Trump\u2019s air war on Iran and require that any hostilities against Iran be authorised by Congress, backing the Republican president\u2019s military campaign on the sixth day of the expanding conflict.
\nThe vote was 219 to 212, largely along party lines, in the House, where Trump\u2019s fellow Republicans control a narrow majority of seats. Two Republicans voted in favour of the resolution and four Democrats voted against it.
\nOpponents accused Democrats of taking the issue to a vote only because they oppose Trump, putting Americans at increased risk.
\n\u201cWe all know that we wouldn\u2019t be here today if the president\u2019s name wasn\u2019t Donald Trump,\u201d Representative Rick Crawford of Arizona, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said during debate on Wednesday.
\nSponsors of the resolution described it as a bid to take back Congress\u2019 responsibility to authorise war, as spelled out in the US Constitution.
\nThe US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Saturday, a conflict that has killed more than 1,000 people, including at least six US service members, and caused damage and instability throughout the Middle East.
\nSupporters said the resolution, by requiring Trump to come to Congress for a war authorisation, would force him to explain to Americans why the US is fighting and how it might end.
\n\u201cThis is a war of choice, launched by this administration without authorisation, without clearly stated objectives or a defined endgame, and without explaining how they intend to keep Americans safe,\u201d said Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
\nApproval would not have stopped Iran air war Just before the resolution vote, House members from both parties overwhelmingly passed a measure \u201cReaffirming Iran remains the largest state sponsor of terrorism.\u201d
\nThe vote would not have stopped the conflict even if the House had voted yes.
\nTo go into effect, the resolution would also have had to pass the Senate and garner the two-thirds majorities needed to override Trump\u2019s expected veto.
\nThe Senate, also narrowly controlled by Trump\u2019s party, backed his military campaign against Iran in a vote on Wednesday, voting to block a bipartisan resolution similar to the measure passed by the House. The votes this week are not the end of the matter. The War Powers Resolution of 1973, which provides for votes on the resolutions, says a president can only involve the military in an armed conflict when Congress has declared war or provided specific authority or in response to an attack.
\nTrump and his Republicans have argued that Iran posed an \u201cimminent threat\u201d so that his actions were legal under that law.
\nHowever, the War Powers measure also requires unauthorised military actions to be terminated within 60 days, giving the Trump administration a deadline at the end of April to seek Congress\u2019 approval.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Vote was 219 to 212, in House, where Trump\u2019s fellow Republicans control a narrow majority of seats WASHINGTON The US House of Representatives rejected an effort on Thursday to stop President Donald Trump\u2019s air war on Iran and require that any hostilities against Iran be authorised by Congress, backing the Republican president\u2019s military campaign on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-535230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n