WASHINGTON – Republican leaders of the US House of Representatives unexpectedly cancelled a vote on May 21 on a resolution seeking to end the Iran war unless President Donald Trump obtains Congress’ authorisation, two days after a similar measure advanced in the US Senate.
The vote had been scheduled to take place late in the afternoon of May 21, just before lawmakers left Washington for their Memorial Day recess.
The House had blocked three previous war powers resolutions in close votes earlier in 2026, with near-unanimous support from Republicans, underscoring the strong backing for the Iran war and the president within his party.
But the margins had become increasingly narrow – the last resolution failed on a tie vote – as weeks passed since the US and Israel began striking Iran on Feb 28. The May 21 measure looked likely to pass, given expected defections by a handful of Republicans and the absences of others.
“We had the votes without question, and they knew it,” Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters after the vote was cancelled.
He said the chamber’s Republican leaders had delayed the vote until early June, after the Memorial Day recess.
Democrats, and a few Republicans, have called on Mr Trump to come to Congress for authorisation to use military force, noting that the US Constitution says that Congress, not the president, can declare war.
They have expressed concerns that Mr Trump may have entered the country into a long conflict without setting out a clear strategy.
Most Republicans, and the White House, say Mr Trump’s actions are legal and within his rights as commander-in-chief to protect the US by ordering limited military operations to stop imminent threats.
Republicans control narrow majorities in both the House and Senate.
On May 19, the Senate advanced a separate, but similar, war powers resolution, in a rare rebuke of Mr Trump.
That procedural vote on whether to advance the measure for further votes was 50 to 47, as four of Mr Trump’s fellow Republicans voted with every Senate Democrat but one in favour. Three Republicans missed that vote. REUTERS