WASHINGTON, United States — The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday, March 5, 2026, voted narrowly to defeat a resolution that would have limited President Donald Trump’s military operations against Iran, a day after the Senate blocked a similar measure.
The House vote was 212 to 219, with most Democrats and two Republicans supporting the resolution, which would have required Trump to obtain congressional approval before conducting additional military action against Iran.
Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio were the only Republicans to back the proposal, joining most Democrats.
Four Democrats — Jared Golden of Maine, Greg Landsman of Ohio, Juan Vargas of California and Henry Cuellar of Texas — voted with Republicans to oppose it.
The failed votes in both chambers leave Trump free to continue the military campaign launched last weekend. Polling cited by lawmakers indicates that a majority of Americans oppose the conflict.
Bipartisan Effort to Invoke War Powers
The legislation was introduced by Massie and Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California.
The measure would have halted the military operation unless Congress voted to declare war or specifically authorised the use of force.
Democratic lawmakers argued that the Constitution assigns Congress the authority to declare war and noted that Trump and senior administration officials have referred to the conflict as a war.
Massie acknowledged before the vote that the resolution was unlikely to pass but said forcing a debate in Congress was itself significant.
“A war is never more popular than it is on the first day. And I think enthusiasm for this will decline,” Massie told reporters.
He added that “as the true cost of this war starts to be known and starts to pile up, there’ll be more support to end it.”
According to officials, six Americans have been killed since the conflict began.
Sharp Debate Between Parties
At a weekly news conference on Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticised the administration and Republican lawmakers for supporting the military campaign.
“What’s the justification for sending American men and women into a theater of war, risking their lives?” Jeffries said.
“We’ve already tragically lost six heroic service men and women, and we mourn for them, and we pray for their families, and we don’t want to see any more American lives lost in Trump’s war of choice.”
Republican leaders defended the president’s actions, arguing that the strikes were necessary to protect the United States from what they described as an immediate threat.
Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida and an Afghanistan war veteran, said the president had acted decisively.
“Defending yourself is a choice. It’s a choice that not everybody makes. Some people, instead of defending themselves, curl up into a corner and cry,” Mast said.
“Some people stand up, and they step into the fight, and they make the tough choice of going through the battles that it takes to defend yourself.”
“I will thank again President Trump for defending America from an imminent threat — an imminent threat that no other president has had the guts to stand up to,” he added.
Separate Vote on Homeland Security Funding
In a separate vote on Thursday, the House approved a spending bill to end the shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security and fund the agency through September.
The bill passed by a vote of 221 to 209, with four Democrats joining Republicans in supporting it.
The measure closely resembled a funding bill the House approved in January with bipartisan support.
However, it did not become law after the Senate removed it from a broader government funding package amid Democratic demands for changes to immigration enforcement policies at the department.
Negotiations between Democrats and the White House over immigration enforcement remain ongoing.
