WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jared Golden and House Republicans narrowly voted Thursday to defeat a Democratic-led resolution aiming to stop the war until hostilities are authorized by Congress.
The war powers resolution was defeated by 214 to 213 in the Republican-majority chamber, a day after a similar measure was blocked in the Senate. The vote was virtually along party lines. Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District who dropped a bid for a fifth term in November, was the only member of his party to oppose it, and only one Republican voted in favor of it.
The vote underscored the continuing support among Trump’s fellow Republicans for the president’s war policy, more than six weeks after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Democrats have called on the president to come to Congress for authorization for the use of military force, noting that the Constitution says only that branch can declare war.
Golden also voted with Republicans on a war-powers resolution in March, backing a middle-ground measure that would have given Trump a month to end military action and prohibit the use of ground troops without congressional authority.
In a Thursday statement, he noted the current ceasefire between and ongoing negotiations around Iran’s nuclear program and access to the crucial Strait of Hormuz, saying the congressional effort is ill timed.
“At this moment, a resolution like this would weaken our hand,” he said.
Presidents from both parties have long held that the restriction does not apply for short-term operations or if the country is under immediate threat. The White House, and almost all of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress, say Trump’s actions are legal and within his rights as commander-in-chief to protect the U.S. by ordering limited military operations.
Story by Patricia Zengerle. BDN writer Michael Shepherd contributed to this report.
