The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday failed to approve a Democratic-led war powers resolution intended to prevent unilateral military action against Iran without congressional authorization, with the chamber deadlocking 212 to 212.
The resolution required a simple majority to pass. The evenly split vote resulted in the measure falling short and being defeated.
This was the third occasion this year that the House took up an Iran-related war powers resolution. It was also the first such vote since a 60-day window tied to the conflict expired on May 1, a deadline after which President Donald Trump would have been expected to seek congressional approval for continued hostilities. At that point, the president had said a ceasefire had "terminated" hostilities against Iran.
House votes on the issue have become progressively closer over the course of the year, a trend taking place while Republicans maintain only a slim majority in the chamber. An earlier House effort to advance a similar resolution failed on April 16 by a vote of 213-214, with one member recorded as voting "present."
The upper chamber also saw a tight standoff earlier in the week. On Wednesday, the Senate blocked a war powers resolution by a 50-49 margin. In that vote, three Republicans joined every Democrat except one in supporting advancement of the measure.
The narrow margins in both chambers underscore how closely divided congressional opinion is on curtailing presidential authority to conduct military operations against Iran without a fresh authorization from Congress. The House outcome means the specific Democratic-led restriction will not take effect following Thursday's vote.
Context and procedural notes
Because the House required only a simple majority for passage, an exact tie automatically results in defeat. The episode represents the third House action on this question in the current year and comes after the May 1 60-day benchmark tied to presidential reporting or authorization requirements.
What happened previously
On April 16, an earlier House war powers resolution failed by one vote, 213-214, with one representative voting "present." The Senate vote the day before Thursday's House vote saw a 50-49 rejection of a related measure to advance the question, with a small bipartisan group crossing party lines in the procedural tally.