The House on Tuesday voted for a third time to direct President Trump to end the war in Iran or seek explicit authorization to continue it, delivering another bipartisan rebuke to his handling of the conflict as fighting in the region continues and American voters increasingly disapprove.
Seven Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the resolution, which does not carry the force of law but seeks to compel the administration to either halt the operation or win a vote of Congress approving it. But the action in the Republican-led chamber was the latest sign of frustration on Capitol Hill over the ongoing conflict and its domestic impacts, including high gas prices, weeks before midterm elections in which control of Congress is at stake.
Lawmakers voted 220 to 204 in favor of the resolution, which was offered by Representative Seth Moulton, Democrat of Massachusetts and a combat veteran who said the war with Iran “has not only failed, but backfired.”
Mr. Moulton and his colleagues pointed to depleted munitions stockpiles, rising energy costs and a far lengthier war than the weekslong foray that Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised when they began bombing Iran at the end of February.
It was the latest move by Democrats to highlight Republican backing for the war as polls show it is increasingly unpopular with the voters they need to maintain their majorities in Congress. A national poll conducted this month by The New York Times and Siena University found that the conflict, which has driven gas prices above $4 a gallon, is weighing down the president’s approval rating, with more than three-quarters of independent voters saying they disapproved of his handling of the war, along with nearly a quarter of those who supported Mr. Trump in 2024.
Democrats who backed the measure said the president had circumvented Congress in violation of the Constitution to unilaterally undertake an overseas war for which the administration has provided no clear direction, timetable or set of objectives.
“This Congress has not authorized a war with Iran, and yet this administration has kept our troops in harm’s way without a declaration of war, without an authorization from Congress and without any plan for how to win or end the war,” Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said when the measure was debated on Monday evening on the House floor.
Though the vote was the fifth time that a bipartisan majority in one chamber of Congress has voted to direct Mr. Trump to end the war, the president continues to refuse to involve the legislative branch and shows no signs of winding down the military campaign.
The Times/Siena poll found that only 31 percent of likely voters approve of the war with Iran. Among Republicans, that figure is much higher, with 77 percent in favor. But among independent voters, a group that could play a critical role in the midterm elections, the numbers are even more lopsided, with only 21 percent of those polled approving of the war.
Antipathy has grown as the conflict continues to affect both the global economy and energy costs in the United States. The average cost of diesel fuel reached a record $6 per gallon last week, and rising energy prices are affecting air travel, farming and a number of sectors that have ripple effects for American consumers.
The direct costs of the war from Feb. 28 through Aug. 1 reached roughly $38 billion, the Congressional Budget Office reported on Tuesday, but the figure was limited because the Pentagon declined to provide details about how much had been spent.
The latest House rebuke of the war came as Republicans in the Senate were also growing more frustrated about the conflict.
Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who has so far opposed efforts to rein in Mr. Trump on the war, said on Tuesday that he would now support such a measure. “It is time to be clear on the strategic objectives and start measuring results,” Mr. Tillis said. “And that’s not something that we’ve had since they started the conflict.”
Mr. Tillis initially backed the administration’s assertion that congressional approval was not necessary, maintaining that Mr. Trump was within his constitutional authority to direct the military for 60 to 90 days without congressional approval. That period passed in the spring, but Mr. Tillis still deferred to the president.
On Tuesday, he said that since the administration began characterizing the conflict as a war in mid-July, that started a two-month clock for Mr. Trump to secure authorization, which has now lapsed.
“It is important to start saying we deserve an update,” Mr. Tillis said. “Congress can be of assistance with this war effort if you inform us.”
The post House Directs Trump to Halt War With Iran or Secure Congress’s Approval appeared first on New York Times.
