US House votes to curb Trump's war powers on Iran

The United States House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a resolution that curbs President Donald Trump’s ability to launch a military attack on Iran without first getting a green light from lawmakers.

Members voted 227 to 186 to pass the resolution, with some Republicans voting against their president in the Democrat-controlled House in what may only be to a symbolic gesture given the anticipated White House veto.

Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from the upper chamber who was the main sponsor of the resolution, wrote the measure in January after Trump ordered a drone strike that killed top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani and others in Iraq.

“A bipartisan majority in both the Senate and House has now made clear that we shouldn’t be engaged in hostilities with Iran without a vote of Congress,” Kaine wrote to his 989,000 Twitter followers.

“If President Trump is serious about his promise to stop endless wars, he will sign this resolution into law.”

The resolution passed through the Senate last month. Trump is expected to quash the document, and while Lawmakers have rebuked the president, they do not appear to have enough votes to override a presidential veto.

Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the resolution a “partisan political attack” on Trump, who had been protecting Americans by ordering a hit on of “one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists”.

“Disappointed my fellow Members across the aisle could not put partisan politics aside to acknowledge the threat posed by the Mastermind of Terror in the Middle East,” McCaul, a Texas lawmaker, wrote on Twitter.