House Democrats are failing to stop Trump’s war powers on Iran as the GOP holds firm
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House Democrats failed again on Thursday to break Republican support for President Donald Trump’s Iran strategy as GOP lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected an effort to curb his war powers.
The House of Representatives was deadlocked by a 212-212 vote, blocking a resolution provided by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, DN.J., which would have forced Trump to end the war against Iran without congressional authorization.
Every Democratic representative except Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, voted for the measure. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Trump’s leading opponent, and Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Tom Barrett, R-Mich., were the only Republicans who crossed party lines in support of the resolution.
A number of lawmakers from both parties did not vote.
Representative Thomas Massie, R-Ky., stands outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 3, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The failed vote comes after peace talks between Washington and Tehran have stalled in recent weeks, although a ceasefire remains in place despite ongoing tensions.
Trump said on Monday the ceasefire was “on life support” and reiterated his demand for Iran to end its nuclear program.
During this tense moment, congressional Democrats have linked the war to voters’ concerns about funding in an effort to pressure GOP lawmakers to oust the president.
“The single fastest way to reduce spending is to end this war,” House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on the House floor Wednesday. “And once again, Republicans will have an opportunity to do just that. Once again, they have an opportunity to bring our service members home and end this mess.”
But Republicans said limiting Trump’s war powers would hurt his ability to end the conflict.
“By putting an illegal limit on the ability of America to put both kinetic and diplomatic pressure on Iran, I think it ends up hurting our ability to negotiate, so that Iran will stand down,” Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
“What I have seen from the president is a clear desire to stop Iran’s ability to have a nuclear weapon and its ability to become the number one state sponsor of terrorism,” he added.
A woman holds an Iranian flag in front of an anti-US billboard in Valiasr Square in Tehran on May 10, 2026. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
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Most Republicans have continued to oppose Trump’s Iran strategy despite the administration extending a 60-day deadline to seek congressional approval for the conflict.
The president opposed the indefinite ceasefire that began on April 7 and stopped the clock. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also argued that the War Powers Resolution of 1973 that gives Congress a say in the use of military force is unconstitutional.
Across the Capitol, GOP support for the Iran war appears to be at an all-time low.
The Senate narrowly defeated the war powers resolution on Wednesday, the seventh attempt by Democrats since Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28, which would end hostilities with Iran.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, crossed party lines to support a measure to limit Trump’s war powers while Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., joined Republicans in opposition. Just one GOP yes vote would have allowed the resolution to clear the chamber.
Murkowski, who turned his vote to support the war power resolution, said Wednesday that the administration’s timeline on Iran “moves us beyond the 60-day deadline” for Congress to authorize or end the conflict.
He had hoped the administration would provide more clarity, but that information has yet to come, prompting him to join Democrats in curbing Trump’s war powers.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, speaks to reporters outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Oct. 3, 2025, following a vote. (Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)
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“We are in a different place than we were when we last voted on this,” said Murkowski.
A Fox News poll published in late April found that 55% of Americans oppose military action against Iran. Nearly six in ten respondents said war would not improve the security of the American people enough to justify military action.
