US House votes again to end Iran war as Trump veto threat looms
The US House of Representatives has, for the third time, voted to end the war in Iran, approving a war powers resolution that would stop President Donald Trump from continuing military action without approval from Congress. The measure passed 220-204 late on Tuesday, with a few more Republicans joining most Democrats, but none of the earlier resolutions have reached the president's desk, where Trump would almost certainly veto it.
The vote is likely to be the House's last on the Iran war before the midterm elections, with the conflict taking a major place in political campaigning. The war, which Trump launched on February 28, has continued for nearly seven months, with repeated missile strikes causing disruption in the region and adding to concerns over fuel prices and inflation in the US.
Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts who served as a Marine during the Iraq war and pushed the resolution, said, "Remember when Donald Trump said that this war would last just a few weeks?" He said it was time for Congress to "actually ask tough questions, as the Constitution directs us to do, rather than be subservient to another warmongering administration."
Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, questioned which military resources Democrats would want removed from the region, saying Iran remained a threat. Mast said Trump is against "forever wars, and that is what he is ending" - the decades of hostilities from Iran. "They are a continuous ongoing threat to the United States," Mast said. "Enough is enough."
Lawmakers are due to head home at the end of the week to campaign almost full-time, with less than 50 days left before elections that will decide control of Congress, as Democrats try to take power from Republicans. Voters are also dealing with high prices, especially at petrol pumps, as the conflict has disrupted the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. The Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday that the war had cost more than USD 38 billion as of August 1, and was expected to cost between USD 2 billion and USD 3 billion a month depending on the intensity of the fighting. It also said inflation would be 0.5 percentage points higher than expected going into 2027 because of the war.
Trump had promised when he won a second term that he would not involve the US in foreign wars, and the conflict with Iran is weighing on the Republican Party, which controls both the House and the Senate. According to an AP-NORC poll in July, most Americans said the war in Iran had not been worth fighting. Congress has repeatedly tried to change the course of the war, but efforts to limit the administration's military action remain difficult as long as Trump can block or veto such measures. The House first passed a war powers resolution in June and then again in July, while the Senate approved one on its 10th attempt before Republican senators reversed course the next day after Trump criticised them during a closed-door lunch.
Under the Constitution, Congress has the power to declare war, while the president as commander in chief can undertake some military action. The war powers law, created after the Vietnam conflict, sought to set a clearer limit by requiring congressional approval for sustained military action after 60 or 90 days. House Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged on Tuesday that fuel prices needed to come down, but said the Iran conflict was entering a "new phase" as allies stepped up to help stabilise the region. He said, "you're going to see, as the president said, anytime gas prices will go down again, the cost of groceries will as well." Johnson added that Trump expected that shift after the election, saying, "I'd love it to happen today."
In summary, the House has again voted to try to curb Trump's war powers over Iran, but the measure faces long odds as the conflict continues to shape US politics, strain the economy and test the balance of powers between Congress and the president.
