House Democrats fail to fracture GOP support for Trump's Iran strategy in war powers vote

By Fox News · Fox News

House Democrats failed again Thursday to fracture Republicans’ support for President Donald Trump's Iran strategy as GOP lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected an effort to curb his war powers. The House of Representatives deadlocked in a 212-212 vote, blocking a resolution offered by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., that would have forced Trump to end hostilities against Iran absent congressional authorization. Every Democratic lawmaker except for Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, voted for the measure. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a leading Trump foe, and Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Tom Barrett, R-Mich., were the lone Republicans to cross party lines in support of the resolution. Several lawmakers in both parties did not vote. WHERE AMERICAN SUPPORT FOR TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKE STANDS AS NEW POLLS ROLL IN The failed vote comes after peace talks between Washington and Tehran stalled in recent weeks, though the ceasefire has largely stayed intact despite sporadic fighting. Trump said Monday the ceasefire was "on life support" and reiterated his demand that Iran end its nuclear program. Amid the stalemate, congressional Democrats have linked the war to voter concern about affordability in an effort to pressure GOP lawmakers to buck the president. "The single fastest way to bring down costs is to end this war," House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on the House floor Wednesday. "And once again, Republicans are going to have an opportunity to do just that. Once again, they have a chance to bring our service members home and end this chaos." But Republicans have argued that limiting Trump’s war powers could undermine his ability to end the conflict. "By putting an arbitrary limitation on America's ability to deploy both kinetic as well as diplomatic pressure on Iran, I think it ends up harming our ability to negotiate, to get Iran to stand down," Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "What I've seen from th…