For the third time, the US House passed a war powers resolution, limiting President Trump’s ability to continue military action without congressional approval.
For the third time, the US House voted to end the war with Iran, approving a war powers resolution that would bar President Donald Trump from pursuing further military action without congressional authorization.
The vote late Tuesday was 220‑204, mirroring earlier attempts this summer, with a handful of additional Republicans siding with Democrats to push the measure.
Seven Republican members of the House supported the resolution, three of them backing it for the first time.
Iowa Representative Zach Nunn (R) explained his vote, stating that “with the negotiating window closed, sustained combat operations now require congressional authorization.”
“I will not support another open-ended war,” Nunn added.
None of the resolutions has reached the president’s desk, where Mr. Trump would almost certainly veto the measure.
Republican Representative Brian Mast of Florida, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, asked which military assets Democrats intended to withdraw from the region, where he said Iran remains a threat.
Mast said President Trump opposes “forever wars, and that is what he is ending” – the decades‑long hostilities with Iran.
“They are a continuous ongoing threat to the United States,” Mast declared. “Enough is enough.”
The run‑up to the midterms
This action is likely the final House vote on the Iran conflict before the midterm elections, as the war overseas is a major issue in campaign rhetoric. The conflict, which began with a Trump‑initiated strike on February 28, has persisted for roughly seven months, marked by intermittent deadly missile exchanges that have destabilized the region.
Congressional members are returning home at week’s end to focus on campaigning, with just under 50 days remaining before the elections that will decide control of Congress as Democrats aim to capture power from Republicans.
US war on Iran
A report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) finds that the US war on Iran is accelerating inflation and depleting the nation’s munitions reserves.
Released on Tuesday, the report estimated the six‑month conflict’s cost at $38 billion, with expenses projected to climb by $3 billion each month. The war is also expected to raise inflation by 0.5 percentage points during the first three months of 2027.
President Trump pledged during his re‑election campaign not to engage the United States in foreign wars, yet his actions against Iran are creating political pressure for the Republican Party, which currently controls both the House and Senate.
A July AP‑NORC poll shows that a majority of Americans believe the war in Iran has not been worth fighting.
Previous war resolutions
Congress has repeatedly attempted to steer the war with Iran onto a different course, but efforts to curb the Trump administration’s military actions remain unlikely while the president retains the power to block or veto such measures.
The House passed its first war powers resolution in June and a second in July, both aimed at halting US military action against Iran. The Senate, on its tenth attempt, also approved a resolution to end the conflict, but Republican senators reversed course the following day after President Trump rebuked them during a closed‑door lunch.
Although the Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war, it also vests the president with authority as commander‑in‑chief to conduct certain military operations. The War Powers Act, enacted after the Vietnam War, imposes specific time limits on presidential military authority, mandating congressional approval for prolonged engagements after 60 or 90 days.
