House rebukes Trump over war in Iran

The House on Wednesday passed a resolution to https://www.axios.com/2026/05/20/trump-iran-war-powers-vote-house-golden-bacon" target="_blank">rein in President Trump's military campaign in Iran.

Why it matters: It's Congress' first https://www.axios.com/2026/05/14/mike-johnson-jeffries-kean-wilson-house-votes" target="_blank">successful rebuke of Trump's Iran war effort after multiple Democratic-led war powers attempts failed.

• Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), the one Democrat who has consistently voted against Iran war powers resolutions, flipped and voted yes.
• Four Republicans — Reps.

  Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) — voted in support of the measure.

• The vote is largely symbolic, as the measure would still need to pass the GOP-controlled Senate — and even then, Trump could just veto it.

Catch up quick: Previous efforts to constrain Trump's military campaign in Iran repeatedly fell short.

• House GOP leadership https://www.axios.com/2026/05/21/house-iran-war-powers-vote" target="_blank">abruptly pulled a scheduled vote late last month on the resolution after it became clear they did not have the votes to defeat it.
• House Democratic leaders called their Republican counterparts "cowardly" for pulling the vote in a statement.
• Democrats' other most recent attempt https://www.axios.com/2026/05/14/mike-johnson-jeffries-kean-wilson-house-votes" target="_blank">failed last month in a stunning 212-212 tie vote.

  Golden voted against that earlier resolution, while Massie, Fitzpatrick and Barrett supported it.

  Several lawmakers were absent.

The Senate last month advanced a separate war powers resolution through a procedural vote with support from four Republican senators.

• But three senators were absent, and the next procedural vote is expected to fail once attendance returns to full strength.

The big picture: Republicans have largely backed Trump's military campaign, but unease within the GOP has grown as the conflict has dragged on without congressional authorization and has sent U.S. https://www.axios.com/2026/05/29/gas-prices-dropping-iran-summer" target="_blank">gas prices rising.

• Some Republicans have pointed to the War Powers Act's 60-day deadline, which has now expired, as a turning point.

  That provision requires the withdrawal of U.S. forces after the deadine absent congressional approval

• The White House argues that the requirement doesn't apply because of the ceasefire the administration negotiated with Iran.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.