The American House of Representatives approved on Thursday a new resolution ordering the withdrawal of American troops in the war against Iran, a text which is however symbolic in scope and which Donald Trump cannot be forced to do.
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Four Republican elected officials joined the Democratic opposition and voted in favor of this text.
In the process, the American Senate failed to advance a different text but with the same goal: restricting the military powers of Donald Trump in the current campaign.
“Trump has dragged America into this mess in Iran, and he has made it clear that he is both unwilling and unable to get us out of it,” Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in the chamber before the vote.
“For the sake of our soldiers, their families, and workers across the country who are being crushed under the weight of rising gas costs and prices, Senate Republicans must join us and end Trump’s war in Iran,” he said.
The two votes come after the deaths in recent days of four American soldiers – three in Jordan and one in Iraq – following Iranian strikes, bringing to 18 the death toll for the United States since the outbreak of war against Iran with Israel on February 28.
At the end of June, both chambers of Congress had already adopted a resolution similar to the one voted on Thursday in the House, without the force of law.
But while the Republicans have the majority in the House and the Senate, the accumulation of these votes against the military campaign led by Donald Trump against Iran represents so many snubs against the octogenarian president.
At the beginning of June, he had already criticized an “unpatriotic” vote.
The Democratic opposition is trying to restrict Donald Trump’s military powers in the conflict against Iran, denouncing a circumvention of legislative power by the executive he embodies.
According to the American Constitution, only Congress has the authority to declare war.
While the law allows the president to initiate hostilities to respond to an imminent threat, it requires that he obtain authorization from Congress within 60 days.
However, at the beginning of May, Donald Trump ignored this deadline by arguing that the conflict, which began on February 28 with American and Israeli strikes, was over due to the ceasefire.
Democrats were already contesting this argument and their demands have only gained momentum since the resumption of US strikes on Iran over the past two weeks.
Among the four Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of the resolution on Thursday, Tom Barrett said that “only Congress has the power to authorize military action in Iran.”
“I remain ready to work with anyone to eliminate hostile threats to our nation without dragging us into another endless war,” the Michigan lawmaker said in a statement after the vote.
