House Passes War Powers Challenge to Attack on Iran
Posted on In a vote heavily split along party lines, the House of Representatives passed H.Con.Res.83, a War Powers Resolution seeking to limit President Trump’s ability to unilaterally attack Iran without any Congressional authorization, by a vote of 224-194. It also opposed last week’s attack on the Baghdad International Airport, which assassinated Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Though many Republicans argued it was non-binding, analyst Robert Naiman pointed out that under the War Powers Act’s own language, this type of resolution is binding. The concurrent resolution could not be vetoed by the president.
Read more at https://news.antiwar.com/2020/01/09/house-passes-war-powers-challenge-opposing-attacking-iran/
House votes to rein in Trump on Iran
The non-binding measure limits Trump’s ability to go to war with Iran without first seeking congressional approval.
By SARAH FERRIS and ANDREW DESIDERIO
The House voted on Thursday to halt further U.S. military action against Iran, in a powerful rebuke of President Donald Trump’s use of force overseas without congressional approval.
The mostly party-line vote on a symbolic, non-binding resolution came days after Trump ordered the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani — a move that instantly threatened to rope the United States into a wider conflict with Iran.
Trump has since sought to cool tensions in the region after Iran’s retaliatory missile strike on U.S. bases in Iraq earlier this week yielded no casualties. But his administration’s defense of the Soleimani attack in classified briefings was ridiculed by Democrats and even some Republicans, prompting the House to act.
The War Powers resolution, which passed by a vote of 224 to 194, limits Trump’s ability to go to war with Iran without first seeking congressional approval. And while the measure does not require a presidential signature, it comes amid what critics contend has been a decades-long abdication of Congress’ authority to declare war.
Read more at https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/09/democrats-iran-house-war-powers-trump-096848
