Roving Periscope: House curbs his powers on $100 bn Iran war; will Trump follow Congress ‘orders?’
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: In a perceived setback to President Donald Trump, the House of Representatives, with a roll call of 215-208, approved a war powers resolution on Wednesday to halt the ongoing military action in Iran.
The resolution will now go to the Senate, the Upper House of the US Congress, for likely passage.
But looking at his history of finding alternatives to impose his will, few are sure that Trump will really follow the decision of the US Congress, as it may deny him the badge of ‘victory’ ahead of the midterm elections in November 2026.
Even Iran, which is playing cat-and-mouse with Trump and the rest of the world, knows it. Tehran is trying to deny this victory to him and is dragging the truce talks until it can.
While the House resolution would not immediately end military operations, it marks a significant effort by the Lower House of Congress to reassert its constitutional authority over decisions related to war and military engagement, the media reported on Thursday.
The House approved a war powers resolution when a group of rebel Republicans joined Democrats in defiance of President Trump whose three-month-long war on Iran has reordered politics at home and abroad.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to prevent an outcome that would show the mounting opposition to the war, abruptly shutting down floor action two weeks ago when the war powers resolution was on the verge of approval. But displeasure has only grown as the conflict drags on and as Trump struggles to negotiate a quick resolution.
“This reckless and costly war of choice needs to end today,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said earlier in the week.
“All we need are a handful of Republicans to join us and we can end this reckless and costly war of choice –a war that has cost the American taxpayer over USD 100 billion — that’s extraordinary — and left our country in a weaker position relative to Iran.”
Protests escalate
It’s the fourth time the House has tried to curb the US war against Iran, and the first time it was able to pass the measure. The Senate advanced its own war powers resolution last month when a few of Grand old Party (GOP) senators broke ranks with the Republican President in a rare show of political pushback from his party.
Trump had campaigned for the White House in 2024 on a promise to end US entanglements abroad and focus more on domestic issues, but the Iran war has shifted attention back to the Middle East (West Asia).
Johnson insisted Trump is “laser focused” on the domestic front, particularly ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. He said he spent three hours at the White House with the President this week as Trump is calling on allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz for commerce, especially the flow of oil.
Economic fallout
Since the US joined Israel in launching the February 28 strikes on Iran, Americans have seen gas prices spike at the pumps, adding to inflationary pressure on consumer spending.
Iran successfully interrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for passage of a fifth of the world’s oil, natural gas and related products such as fertilizer.
While a ceasefire in the conflict was declared in April, it remains uneasy and uncertain. Talks for a more durable end to the fighting have dragged, increasingly complicated by Israel’s broadening war with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Meanwhile, military strikes between the US and Iran continue to flare.
The war powers resolution from the House would not immediately stop the war, but it would provide a symbolic if not legal step against further military action.
If approved, it would then go to the Senate, where four Republican senators last month joined Democrats in advancing a similar measure to curtail the US campaign against Iran. The Senate has yet to take a final vote to approve or reject its own war powers resolution.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Wednesday testifying at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that the Iranians would think that the administration’s “hands are going to be tied” if Congress approved a war powers resolution. He said they would think “we won’t be able to do anything to them, so why make a deal?
Broader debate
It’s not the only action Congress is taking in the national security arena as Democrats, in the minority, work to peel off Republican support for measures beyond the war against Iran.
The House is also voting on another Democratic-led effort that would authorise US support for Ukraine’s military operations as it battles Russia and to help reconstruct the war-torn country.
The House this week is also expected to consider a war powers resolution to block US action in Lebanon.
While Congress has the authority under the Constitution to declare war, the President also has power as the Commander-in-Chief to engage in military action, creating a legal dispute over which branch of government has ultimate say in matters of war and peace.
Under the war powers act, the White House has a 60-day window to seek approval from Congress for military action.
The administration, however, has indicated that because a ceasefire has been declared in the current conflict in Iran, the hostilities have ceased.
