U.S. Republican leaders abruptly cancel House vote on Iran war powers, shielding Trump from rebuke

U.S. House GOP leaders abruptly canceled a vote Thursday on a resolution to limit US President Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran just as Republicans were on the verge of losing the vote due to absences.

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Democrats have repeatedly forced votes to limit Trump’s war powers in both the House and the Senate, a campaign that has slowly picked up more GOP support in recent weeks.

The resolution was introduced by New York Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Top House Democratic leaders criticized the move to cancel the vote, saying in a joint statement, “the Republican-controlled House continues to behave like a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Trump administration.”

“Republicans cowardly pulled a scheduled vote on a War Powers Resolution—legislation that would have passed with bipartisan support and required the President to end the conflict in the Middle East,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in the statement.

Meeks was similarly critical of the move. “Here we are on the eve of Memorial Day, with prices for gasoline going up, prices for food going up. We had a vote because of this president’s war of choice that was going to pass, we had the votes without question, and they knew it, and as a result they’re playing a political game, they’re cheating and have delayed the vote until we get back,” the congressman told reporters after the vote was delayed.

Meeks told reporters the vote is now expected to take place in early June after the chamber returns from its Memorial Day recess.Earlier in the week, Meeks told reporters he thought House Speaker Mike Johnson had been stalling a vote on the measure.

“A lot of my Republican colleagues are feeling the pressure back home when they’re looking at the cost of food, the cost of gas,” he said.

The Senate advanced a similar resolution earlier in the week to limit Trump’s ability to carry out military action against Iran without congressional approval.

The cancelled House vote comes after President Donald Trump told reporters earlier this week that he believes the US campaign against Iran has been popular among Americans.

“Look, everyone tells me it’s unpopular, but I think it’s very popular when you, when they hear that it’s having to do with nuclear weapons, weapons that could take out Los Angeles, could take out major cities very quick,” Trump told reporters at the White House.