The House passed a resolution to end the Iran War by a 215-208 vote on Wednesday. The measure drew unanimous Democratic support and backing from four Republicans: Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Tom Barrett of Michigan, and Warren Davidson of Ohio. The legislation now heads to the Senate.
Cheers broke out among Democrats in the chamber after the resolution was adopted. Three prior attempts to pass the measure had failed. The first, introduced by Massie on March 5, came just five days after the war began. The other two efforts were led by House Democrats.
The move is largely symbolic due to the ongoing debate over whether concurrent resolutions — measures passed by both chambers of Congress that do not require presidential approval and typically lack the force of law — are legally binding.
It’s important to note that the Senate version of this legislation is not a concurrent resolution, but a “joint resolution.” According to The Hill, this means that if the Senate passes their measure, it “would go to Trump’s desk and, if signed, [would carry] the force of law.” However, even if that were to happen, Trump would almost certainly veto it.
Regardless, the vote handed the Iranian regime precisely the kind of propaganda victory it needs. Tehran can now point to bipartisan opposition to the war as evidence that the United States lacks the unity and resolve needed to see the conflict through to a successful conclusion — a narrative the Iranian state media has been pushing from the very beginning.
Tehran has been betting that mounting public weariness with the war, coupled with persistently high gas prices, would eventually force Trump’s hand, especially in the run-up to the midterm elections.
So, despite suffering devastating losses to its leadership ranks and military infrastructure at the hands of the U.S. and Israel, the Iranian regime, much like Hamas before it, has managed to turn its weakness into a public-relations advantage. Iran may be losing the war on the battlefield, but with help from Democratic lawmakers and an overwhelmingly sympathetic media, they are winning the battle for public opinion.
Responding to the news in a Thursday morning post on Truth Social, Trump stated the obvious: “They would rather have our Country fail than give me another, of many, victories.”
Recognizing the damage this vote could cause, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), a former Navy SEAL, explained his concerns to constituents on X:
The Trump Administration led by @realDonaldTrump was following the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to the Letter of the Law.This was a foolish, politically driven vote that would restrict the Commander-in-Chief’s ability – regardless of their political party – to exercise their Constitutionally enumerated authority as explicitly stated in Article II, Sec II.Are members of Congress now going to dictate military deployment cycles?Will Congress say when the military can release ordnance for self defense by establishing ROE’s from the House floor?This vote is incredibly shortsighted and does not serve the American people or our allies for that matter.
House Democrats, naturally, were overjoyed by their “big win” against Trump. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi expressed her delight over the vote on X. “Donald Trump and Republicans illegally plunged America into a war in Iran without a strategy or an endgame. Their ineptitude has made prices surge and cost the lives of America’s servicemembers. Today, House Democrats acted to end it.”
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) also took to X to crow about it. “This is big! We finally passed a War Powers Resolution, bringing us a step closer to ending Trump’s war in Iran,” he wrote. “This illegal war has cost lives, raised energy prices, and thrown the world into chaos. Enough.”
I would argue that this so-called “illegal war” has also severely degraded Iran’s ability to wage war and set the regime’s nuclear ambitions back by years. For nearly half a century, the mullahs have terrorized their own people, destabilized the region, and threatened the wider world through proxies and direct aggression. One would think that weakening the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would be cause for celebration among Americans.
Yet Democrats seem to think they have accomplished something noble by attempting to end the war, even as the president is actively engaged in negotiations aimed at achieving that very outcome. By signaling division at home, they are reducing his leverage and making a favorable settlement harder to secure. And they are keenly aware of what they are doing.
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