House Deadlocks 212-212 on Democratic Resolution to Curb Trump's Iran War Powers

House Democrats failed Thursday to fracture Republicans' support for President Donald Trump's Iran strategy. GOP lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected an effort to curb his war powers in a deadlocked 212-212 vote.

The House vote blocked a resolution from Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., that would have forced Trump to end hostilities against Iran without congressional authorization. Every Democratic lawmaker except Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, voted for the measure. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a leading Trump critic, and Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Tom Barrett, R-Mich., were the only Republicans to support it. Several lawmakers in both parties did not vote.

The failed vote followed stalled peace talks between Washington and Tehran in recent weeks. The ceasefire has largely held despite sporadic fighting. Trump said Monday the ceasefire was "on life support" and repeated his demand that Iran end its nuclear program.

Congressional Democrats have tied the war to voter concerns about affordability to pressure GOP lawmakers. "The single fastest way to bring down costs is to end this war," House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on the House floor Wednesday. "And once again, Republicans are going to have an opportunity to do just that. Once again, they have a chance to bring our service members home and end this chaos."

Republicans argued that limiting Trump's war powers would undermine his ability to end the conflict. "By putting an arbitrary limitation on America's ability to deploy both kinetic as well as diplomatic pressure on Iran, I think it ends up harming our ability to negotiate, to get Iran to stand down," Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, told Fox News Digital. "What I've seen from the president is a clear desire to stop Iran's ability from having a nuclear weapon and in their ability to be the number one sponsor of state terrorism."

Most Republicans have backed Trump's Iran strategy despite the administration passing a 60-day deadline for congressional approval. Trump has said the indefinite ceasefire that began April 7 stopped the clock. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called the 1973 War Powers Resolution unconstitutional.

In the Senate, GOP support appears weaker. The chamber narrowly defeated a war powers resolution Wednesday, the seventh Democratic attempt since Operation Epic Fury began Feb. 28. Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, supported the measure to curb Trump's powers. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., opposed it with Republicans. One more GOP vote would have passed it.

Murkowski, who switched her vote, said the administration's timeline in Iran had gone beyond the 60-day deadline. She had hoped for more clarity that never came. "We're in a different place than we were last time we voted on this," Murkowski said.