House Punts a Vote Limiting Trump’s Iran War Powers – News of the United States – NOTUS

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Congress
The vote was postponed until June amid signs support for the war is dropping.
The House on Thursday withdrew a planned vote on limiting President Donald Trump’s authority to conduct the war in Iran. Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
By Hamed Ahmadi
May 21, 2026 06:56 PM
House leaders on Thursday pulled a planned vote on limiting President Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran that may have advanced, had the measure come to the floor.
Several Republicans were absent from the House on Thursday, wiping out their working majority. The vote had already been pushed from earlier this week and now appears to be scheduled for the first week of June.
Speaker Mike Johnson huddled with Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain and staff on the House floor as a previous vote on an unrelated measure stayed open for more than 45 minutes.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat who introduced the war powers measure, said leadership was trying to postpone the vote because Republicans did not have the numbers to block it.
“We had the votes without question, and they knew it, and as a result, they’re playing a political game,” Meeks said. “They’re cheating, and have delayed the vote until we get back” from the Memorial Day recess.
Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, complained that Republicans are holding up the vote while gas prices spike and Americans grow tired of the “illegal war.”
“You guys don’t have the guts or the balls to vote on this,” McGovern said.
Johnson didn’t respond to reporters’ questions about the pulled vote.
With eight Republicans missing, the House was effectively tied at 210 members present on each side. Several Republicans had already shown openness to backing the measure. Rep. Jared Golden, a Maine Democrat who previously opposed similar past measures, was planning to vote for the resolution this time.
Some Republican lawmakers are growing restless with the war in Iran, which is publicly unpopular and has stretched well beyond the 60-day threshold by when, under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the president is supposed to ask Congress for approval.
On Tuesday, the Senate advanced a measure to limit the president’s powers on Iran in a 50-47 vote, after seven previous failed attempts.
Sen. Bill Cassidy provided the newest Republican vote to curb Trump, joining Sens. Rand Paul, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Paul has consistently supported those efforts. Collins backed similar measures in the days leading up to the 60-day deadline, while Murkowski joined after the deadline passed.
Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote no.
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Hamed Ahmadi is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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