WASHINGTON — The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution Thursday to halt President Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran, an early sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict that is reordering U.S. priorities at home and abroad.

It’s the second vote in as many days, after the Senate defeated a similar measure. Lawmakers are confronting the sudden reality of representing wary Americans in wartime and all that entails — with lives lost, dollars spent and alliances tested by a president’s unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.

While the tally in the House, 219-212, was expected to be tight, the outcome provided a clarifying snapshot of political support for, and opposition to, the U.S.-Israel military operation and Trump’s rationale for bypassing Congress, which alone has the power to declare war.

Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, D-2nd District, and three other Democrats strayed from their party and voted against the measure.

GOLDEN SEEKS CLARITY

In a statement Thursday night, Golden said he still wants clarity on the necessity of operations in Iran, but noted the U.S. and its allies are already engaged in hostilities and “the Iranian regime is more desperate than ever to reassert its power.”

“While I do not believe that an abrupt about-face is a good course of action given the reality on the ground, that should not be construed as my approval,” Golden said. “While conflict requires that we remain flexible to shifting circumstances, at this time I would not support Congressional authorization or funding for sustained combat operations.”

Golden said Trump has so far “acted within the authorities” of the War Powers Act of 1973 by briefing Congress.

“This is not an illegal war — but it could become one,” Golden said. “There are reasonable constraints Congress should impose.”

Golden noted his support for a resolution introduced by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.Y., which would give Trump 30 days, rather than 60, to provide justification for military operations, and not permit him to commit ground troops without congressional authority.

“A month is plenty of time for the president to make his case to the American people — and for Congress to weigh in,” Golden said.

Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, D-1st District, who voted in favor on Thursday, said she is “against any war launched without the approval of Congress.”

“That the president chose to attack Iran—a country four times the size of Iraq, with 90 million people, a massive standing army, and formidable weaponry—without so much as an Oval Office address, is beyond dangerous,” Pingree said in a statement.

At the Capitol, the conflict has quickly carried echoes of the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and many Sept. 11-era veterans now serve in Congress.

“Donald Trump is not a king, and if he believes the war with Iran is in our national interest, then he must come to Congress and make the case,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

House Speaker Mike Johnson warned that it would be “dangerous” to limit the president’s authority while the U.S. military is already in conflict.

“We are not at war,” said Johnson, R-La., a close ally of Trump, contradicting others. He said the operation is limited in scope and duration, and the “mission is nearly accomplished.”

Trump’s Republican Party, which narrowly controls the House and Senate, largely sees the conflict with Iran not as the start of a new war, but the end of a government that has long menaced the West. The operation has killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which some view as an opportunity for regime change, though others warn of a chaotic power vacuum.

Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, publicly thanked Trump for taking action against Iran, saying the president is using his own constitutional authority to defend the U.S. against the “imminent threat” the country posed.
Mast, an Army veteran who worked as a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan, said the war powers resolution was effectively asking “that the president do nothing.”

TESTING BALANCE OF POWER

For Democrats, Trump’s attack on Iran, influenced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a war of choice that is testing the balance of powers in the Constitution.

“The framers weren’t fooling around,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., arguing that the Constitution is clear that only Congress can decide matters of war. “It’s up to us.”

Crossover coalitions emerged among those in Congress. Two Republicans joined most Democrats in voting for the war powers resolution, while the four Democrats joined Republicans to reject it.

The war powers resolution, if signed into law, would have immediately halted Trump’s ability to conduct the war unless Congress approved the military action. The president would likely veto it.

Trump has scrambled to win support for the nearly week-old conflict as Americans of all political persuasions take stock. Administration officials spent hours behind closed doors on Capitol Hill this week trying to reassure lawmakers that they have the situation under control.

Six U.S. military members were killed over the weekend in a drone strike in Kuwait, and Trump has said more Americans could die. Thousands of Americans abroad have scrambled for flights, many lighting up phone lines at congressional offices as they sought help trying to flee the Middle East.

Trump said Thursday that he must be involved in choosing Iran’s new leader. Yet Johnson, the House speaker, said this week that America has enough problems at home and is not about to be in the “nation-building business.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the war could extend eight weeks, twice as long as the president first estimated. Trump has left open the possibility of sending U.S. troops into what has largely been a bombing campaign. More than 1,230 people in Iran have died.

The administration said the goal is to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles that it believes are shielding its nuclear program. It has also said Israel was ready to act, and American bases would face retaliation if the U.S. did not strike Iran first. The U.S. said Wednesday it torpedoed an Iranian warship near Sri Lanka.

REPUBLICAN OUTLIER

“This administration can’t even give us a straight answer of as to why we launched this preemptive war,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, the Republican from Kentucky, an outlier in his party.

Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who had teamed up to force the release the Jeffrey Epstein files, also pushed the war powers resolution to the floor, past objections from Johnson’s GOP leadership. Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, a former Army Ranger, also voted for it. Besides Golden, Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Greg Landsman of Ohio and Juan Vargas of California voted against it.

“Congress must stand with the president to finally close, once and for all, this dark chapter of history,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., said that as the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled their homeland, she opposes the regime but is concerned that a democratic transition for the people of Iran never seems to a priority for Trump or the officials who briefed Congress.

“War carries profound and deadly consequences for our troops, for the American people and for the entire world,” she said. “It’s the most serious decision that a nation can make.”

In the Senate, Republican leaders have successfully, though narrowly, defeated a series of war powers resolutions pertaining to several other conflicts during Trump’s second term. This one, however, was different.

Underscoring the gravity Wednesday, Democratic senators sat at their desks as the voting got underway.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said that every senator will pick a side. “Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East?” he asked. Or with Trump and Hegseth “as they bumble us headfirst into another war?”

Sen. John Barrasso, second in Senate Republican leadership, said, “Democrats would rather obstruct Donald Trump than obliterate Iran’s national nuclear program.”

The legislation failed on a 53-47 tally mostly along party lines, with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in favor and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., against.

Staff Writer Drew Johnson contributed to this article.