House Republicans scrap vote to rein in Trump's war in Iran

House GOP leadership pulled a scheduled vote Thursday 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 after it became clear they did not have the votes to defeat it.

Why it matters: It would have been 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 had failed.

• Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), the one Democrat who has consistently voted against Iran war powers resolutions, was planning to flip his vote to yes.
• Four Republicans, Reps.

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

• The vote is largely symbolic, as Trump can veto the measure.

Driving the news: GOP leaders plan to bring the measure back up when the chamber returns from its week-long Memorial Day recess.

• Leaders held open a measure to establish a women's museum for 45 minutes as they tried to whip against the war powers resolution.
• Democrats were infuriated at the move, with House Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) getting shouted down by the presiding officer as he attempted to question the move.
• "We've gone from losing by one to tying last week to this chicken s*** retreat they did tonight," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told Axios.

Between the lines: GOP absences would have allowed the measure to pass Thursday.

• Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) can afford only a handful of defections on party-line votes when the House is at full attendance.

Catch up quick: Previous efforts to constrain Trump's war powers on Iran repeatedly fell short.

• The House was expected to vote on the resolution Wednesday, but GOP leaders delayed the measure amid attendance concerns within their conference.
• Democrats' most recent attempt https://www.axios.com/2026/05/14/mike-johnson-jeffries-kean-wilson-house-votes" target="_blank">failed last week in a stunning 212-212 tie vote.
• Golden voted against that earlier resolution, while Massie, Fitzpatrick and Barrett supported it.

  Several lawmakers were absent.

Zoom in: Trump turned his fire on Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) on Wednesday, telling reporters: "He likes voting against Trump.

You know what happens with that?

It doesn't work out well."

• Fitzpatrick told Axios on Wednesday that he still intended to vote for the measure despite the president's threats.
• "We don't report to any party or any person here in D.C.," he said.

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.

• Some Republicans have pointed to the War Powers Act's 60-day deadline, that has passed, requiring U.S. forces to withdraw absent congressional approval as a turning point.
• The White House argues that requirement https://www.axios.com/2026/05/01/trump-declares-hostilities-with-iran-terminated" target="_blank">no longer applies because of the ceasefire with Iran.