House votes to limit Trump’s power to strike Iran for 3rd time, as 7 Republicans defect

Washington — For the third time, the House voted Tuesday to block President Trump from taking further military action against Iran, with seven Republicans breaking with the president. 

The vote ended in a 220 to 204 tally, marking a symbolic rebuke of the president over the largely unpopular war.

Tuesday’s resolution drew more GOP support than the previous two efforts to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers in June and July.

Three new Republicans voted yes — Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, plus Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn of Iowa — in addition to the four who supported the prior resolutions: Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

It’s unclear whether the Senate plans to take up the measure in its last two scheduled weeks of session before the November elections. A war powers resolution that cleared the House in July has yet to see any movement in the Senate. Both chambers adopted another resolution in June, though the White House has argued against its validity. 

The resolution, introduced by Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, directs the president “to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities with Iran.” 

Aug. 28 marked six months since the war began, and the Trump administration has yet to lay out an exit strategy as it seeks tens of billions in additional funding for the conflict that Mr. Trump initially predicted would last four to five weeks. The Pentagon has said Operation Epic Fury — the military’s term for the initial strikes against Iran — ended in May, but the U.S. and Iran have continued to exchange fire for months, and a ceasefire intended to bring the war to an end fell apart in July. Oil shipments from the region are still constrained, keeping global energy prices high.

Mr. Trump has defended his strategy in Iran, arguing the conflict has degraded the country’s military and predicting last week “the war will end immediately after the election.”

Republicans are trying to provide up to $73 billion in new funding for the war through the party-line reconciliation process. The House adopted a budget blueprint in July to initiate the process, but it stalled in the Senate over the inclusion of funding for Mr. Trump’s voting regulations bill known as the SAVE America Act. 

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released an analysis Tuesday that estimated the war with Iran could cost approximately $2 billion to $3 billion per month for as long as it continues. Between Feb. 28 and Aug. 1, the war is estimated to have directly cost the U.S. about $38 billion. 

“The administration has yet to demonstrate that seven months of war have produced a lasting strategic resolution to the threats posed by Iran,” Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during floor debate Monday night.