War Powers Bills Fail in House but Narrow Margins Deny Trump Mandate for War

Defending Rights & Dissent supported two War Powers Resolutions that would have asserted Congress’s constitutional war powers against Trump’s march to war, and we mobilized thousands to write their reps to support these bills. The House voted on both resolutions last night, and they didn’t pass, but the loss was so narrow that Congress effectively denied Trump political support to bomb fishing boats or launch a regime change war in Venezuela. 

Rep. Ilhan Omar, who spoke out in support of the effort, said, “America has no kings, and Trump has no mandate to push his unconstitutional military campaign against Venezuela.”

H.Con.Res.64, introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) was a bipartisan effort to stop a war against Venezuela. It lost by just two votes, 211 – 213, with nine reps not voting. Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Don Bacon of Nebraska crossed the political aisle to support the bill, with Rep. Massie joining Omar and McGovern in speaking in defense of the core Constitutional principle of congressional authority to declare war during floor debate. See the Roll Call vote here.

H.Con.Res.61, a resolution aimed at reining in Trump’s boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), narrowly failed to pass in House votes yesterday with a vote of 210-216. See the Roll Call vote here.

We’re not giving up the fight to stop Trump’s push to war. He’s taking rogue, illegal military action without Congressional approval, bringing the country closer and closer to outright regime-change intervention in Venezuela. The American people don’t want this, and Congress can stop it. Just two votes away, we’re almost there. Let’s keep pushing our representatives to represent us, and reassert their Constitutional control.