The House voted Thursday to block funding for any operate of offensive military force in or against Iran without congressional approval and to repeal the 2002 AUMF that gave President George W. Bush the authority to invade Iraq. The former passed by a vote of 228-175, while the latter won by a vote of 236-166.
House Democrats have been trying to limit President Trump’s military power since he ordered the deadly strike on Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani, arguing that Trump should not have bypassed Congress.
Before voting began, Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy said the president could now be tried for abuse of power, but it was Democrats who were really to blame. He he accused them endangering national security.
.@GOPLeader is right; House Democrats just made it harder for ANY president to protect our nation from foreign enemies. Partisanship should never trump national security, but unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened today. https://t.co/6csBDmwvGL
— U.S. Representative Billy Long (@USRepLong) January 30, 2020
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (Democrat of Ohio), who voted with the majority, took this personally, suggesting that Trump simply doesn’t get it.
“The president, who himself dodged the draft, underestimates the true cost of war,” Kaptur charged, citing the example of how Trump avoided the Vietnam War draft because of a heel spur.
Kaptur added that the president had shared false intelligence information and that he had “treated Iran in a disrespectful and chaotic manner.”
She and other Democrats reminded the body that we invaded Iraq based on “false and misleading” intelligence and that Trump is trying to operate the 18-year-old authorization “to escalate the conflict with Iran.”
Repealing the aged AUMF is “the first step in finally ending our endless wars,” said Democratic congresswoman Carolyn Maloney.
Republicans countered that all of these measures would result in our U.S. military saying “we don’t have their backs.” And by adopting this amendment, our enemies “can continue to attack the United States completely unchecked.”
Republicans argued that we should not prevent the president from protecting the nation.
“We must fight the war on terrorism there so that it does not end here,” he said.
Republicans who joined the Democratic majority in voting for repeal, however, need not worry about the president’s wrath. On Thursday, he told Congress to vote with their hearts.
On the Iraq War resolution that will be voted on tomorrow in the House of Representatives, we have 5,000 troops and counting. I want everyone, Republicans and Democrats alike, to vote with their HEARTS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2020
Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) took him up on his offer.
I come to vote according to my heart.
Instead of sending our soldiers to the bloodstained sands of the Middle East, let’s take care of the veterans here at home.
Instead of unfortunate adventurism, let’s put America first.
The best time to vote against the Iraq War was 2002. The second best is today. photo: twitter.com/x7ajvjZGl5
– Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) January 30, 2020
