Republican lawmakers struggled on Thursday to find the votes needed to dismiss legislation that would compel US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the war with Iran, delaying planned votes on the matter into June.
The US House of Representatives had scheduled a vote on a war powers resolution, brought by Democrats, that would rein in Trump's military campaign. But as it became clear that Republicans would not have the numbers to defeat the bill, Republican congressional leaders declined to hold a vote on it.
It was the latest sign of the slipping support in Congress for the war that Trump launched more than two months ago with Israel, without having obtained congressional approval.
“We had the votes without question and they knew it, and as a result they’re playing a political game,” said Democratic lawmaker Gregory Meeks, who sponsored the bill.
Republicans in the Senate are also working to ensure they have the votes to dismiss another war powers resolution that advanced to a final vote earlier this week, when four Republican senators supported the resolution and three others were absent from the vote.
