A bipartisan majority in the Republican-led House on Wednesday approved a war powers resolution directing President Trump to end U.S. hostilities with Iran, a symbolic but sharp rebuke of his handling of the conflict and its economic fallout.
The measure passed 215 to 208, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in support. House leaders had postponed the vote two weeks earlier by sending members home for a May recess when it appeared the mostly Democratic-backed resolution had the GOP votes needed for passage; the break did not reverse enough support to kill the measure.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., defended the president’s decision to strike Iran ahead of the vote, saying, “Remember … Iran declared war on us 47 years ago. They chant ‘death to America.’ The president is trying to keep the people safe.” The White House and administration officials have pushed hard against congressional attempts to curtail the campaign and have questioned the constitutionality of the 1973 War Powers Act.
The resolution is largely symbolic. Even if the House and the Democratic-led effort in the Senate were to win final approval, the measure would almost certainly face a presidential veto. Senate Democrats did win a procedural victory last month that made a war powers vote possible after a handful of Republicans broke ranks; a final Senate vote has not yet been scheduled.
The conflict, now more than 90 days old, began Feb. 28 with strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces on Iran. Under the 1973 War Powers Act, a president must end hostilities within 60 days if Congress has not authorized the use of military force, though the president may seek a single 30-day extension. The law also allows Congress to end hostilities by passing a resolution, subject to a presidential veto.
Lawmakers who supported the resolution said it reflected growing frustration — including within the GOP — over the lack of a clear strategy or endgame. Talks to halt the fighting have made limited progress, and a fragile ceasefire has not taken hold; U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged strikes in the Persian Gulf just hours before Wednesday’s vote.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Republicans delayed the earlier vote because they knew they would lose. “Let’s be clear: Republicans pulled this vote because they knew they were going to lose it,” he said, adding that the war is a “political and strategic disaster.”
Wednesday’s vote signals that support for the administration’s approach may be eroding even among some Republicans, though any legislative effort to force an end to the conflict faces steep hurdles in the Senate and at the White House.
Photo: U.S. Capitol, June 2, 2026 (Mariam Zuhaib/AP).