Four House Republicans voted with nearly every single Democrat on Wednesday to force President Donald Trump to end hostilities with Iran, handing the commander in chief a high-profile foreign policy defeat.The House, in a 215-208 vote, passed legislation to “remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized” by Congress. The Senate passed a similar measure a few weeks back. Rep. Jared Golden, the sole Democrat who defected on all three of the previous votes, voted for the measure after expressing his support for a “clean” resolution last month. All Democrats were joined by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Tom Barrett (R-MI), and Warren Davidson (R-OH). These GOP members, minus Davidson, backed limiting Trump’s war powers last month as well. Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA), who caucuses with Republicans, voted against the measure.
Ahead of the vote, Fitzpatrick told the Washington Examiner the White House did not lobby him to change his vote.
“They know where I stand on it,” Fitzpatrick said.
Barrett echoed a similar sentiment, telling the Washington Examiner that “it’s pretty well indicated where I’ve been at on these things.”
This vote comes after House GOP leadership pulled a vote before the Memorial Day recess, through a procedural loophole, in an effort to delay the passage of this resolution.
