War Powers Resolution halting Trump's Iran ambitions fails in U.S. House

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(The Center Square) – A resolution to halt U.S. military hostilities in Iran failed to advance in the U.S. House pro forma session Thursday. 

House Democrats attempted to obtain unanimous consent to pass a War Powers Resolution restricting the Trump administrations’ ability to conduct military operations in Iran without the authorization of Congress. 

The Republican presiding refused to acknowledge the resolution and ended the session, marking the second time since the Iran conflict started that a War Powers Resolution failed in the House.

Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., said in a news conference afterward that “things are out of control” in Iran and that President Donld Trump’s “threats of total annihilation were beyond the pale.”

“It’s time for Congress to step in and take control of the wheel,” he said.

Congress never approved the ongoing military hostilities in Iran. A few key members of Congress had received advance notice of the strikes but did not vote to authorize them.

“The only final reconciliation here will be diplomacy,” Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., told reporters. “The Constitution is very clear that the power to declare war rests with the Congress of the United States. That’s what we tried to do this morning.”

The moot attempt comes after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday that Senate Democrats will also reintroduce a War Powers Resolution when they return next week.

Though the U.S. and Iran reached a fragile ceasefire on Tuesday, the two countries remain far from reconciled.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. has eliminated Iran's comprehensive air defense system, the defense industrial base and the majority of Iran's Navy.

But actual Iranian regime change, a stated goal of the Trump administration, shows no signs of happening soon. The first joint coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes in February killed Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but one of his sons, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has succeeded him.

When U.S. lawmakers return from recess next week, House Democrats will bring up the War Powers Resolution for an actual vote. They urged Republicans on the fence about the Trump administration’s Iran hostilities to join them.

“This war should never have happened in the first place,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., said Thursday. “Congress deserves a say, and the American people deserve a say.”