House rejects Iran war powers resolution

BREAKING: Hegseth gives CENTCOM update on Iran

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Admiral Brad Cooper gave a CENTCOM update on how war operations are going in Iran. 

The U.S. House on Thursday narrowly voted against a war powers resolution that would have required congressional approval before any further attacks are carried out in Iran. 

The close 212-219 vote offered a snapshot of political support – and opposition – to the U.S.-Israel military invasion and Trump's reasons for bypassing Congress. On Wednesday, a similar bill failed in the Senate by a vote of 47-53. 

The House also approved a separate measure affirming that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Republicans largely back Trump, and most Democrats oppose the war   

The Republican Party narrowly controls the House and Senate, and largely sees the conflict with Iran not as the start of a new war, but the end of a regime that for decades has long menaced the West. The launch of Operation Epic Fury 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. 

The US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024.  ( Julia Nikhinson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

What they're saying:

Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, the GOP 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." 

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

Hegseth speaks amid Iran strikes

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered remarks amid strikes on Iran. Hegseth posted on X: ""For too long, leaders in Washington and their foreign policy functionaries abandoned the simple wisdom of the Monroe Doctrine... these elites reduced our power and presence in this hemisphere... the days of us betraying and endangering our own citizens are finished."

"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.

He said whether lawmakers support or oppose the Trump administration’s military action, they should have the debate. "It’s up to us, we’ve got to vote on it." 

The backstory:

On Saturday, the U.S. launched a surprise attack against Iran. The Trump administration has been busy on Capitol Hill this week working to reassure lawmakers that they have the situation under control, and to win over support for a conflict that Americans of all political persuasions were already wary of entering. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the war could extend eight weeks, a longer time frame than has previously been floated by the Trump administration. He also acknowledged that Iran is still able to carry out missile attacks even as the U.S. tries to control the country’s airspace.

Hegseth also announced Wednesday that a U.S. Navy submarine sank an Iranian warship in international waters, the first such sinking of an enemy ship since World War II.

Six U.S. soldiers killed in drone strike at command center in Kuwait

All six were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command based in Des Moines, Iowa. (Army Reserve Command Press Desk)

Six members of the Army Reserve, who worked in logistics and kept troops supplied with food and equipment, were killed Sunday when a drone hit a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, one day after the U.S. and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury.

The Pentagon released their names earlier this week:  

• Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
• Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida.
• Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa.
• Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento
• Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Waukee, Iowa.
• Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska.

All six were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command based in Des Moines, Iowa.