Six House Democrats are bucking House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and introducing alternative legislation to give President Donald Trump 30 days to oversee the conflict in Iran before having to seek congressional approval for use of military force.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) is introducing a war powers resolution that would give Trump “30 days to make the case to Congress [and the] American people for military action in Iran or end the operation.” Trump has said the Iran operation is “ahead of schedule” and likely to last 4 to 5 weeks.
“Iran is actively firing drones and ballistic missiles at U.S. troops, our embassies, allies, and is targeting civilians across the region,” Gottheimer wrote on X. “This new Democratic War Powers Resolution will uphold Congress’s constitutional authority — while also ensuring the U.S. can defend our troops, embassies, and allies from Iranian aggression. We must protect our troops and allies.”
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Backing Gottheimer’s resolution are Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Jared Golden (D-ME), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Jim Costa (D-CA), and Greg Landsman (D-OH). The resolution presents a break with Jeffries.
The minority leader has thrown his support behind a broad war powers resolution led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). The duo’s bill would require Trump to terminate U.S. armed forces from any hostilities with Iran unless Congress explicitly votes to authorize such action.
The Gottheimer resolution stipulates that Trump can’t send ground troops into Iran without congressional authorization, “except for search and rescue missions.” It requires the administration to brief Congress on the “goals, objectives, and timeline of major military action.”
The bill also includes a provision, according to Gottheimer, saying the United States maintains the “right to defend itself, our armed forces, embassies, and allies from Iranian attacks.” It addresses what Republicans and even Democrats like Landsman saw as deficiencies in the version drafted by Massie and Khanna.
“I don’t support the resolution, which would require us to completely abandon our allies. It calls for the immediate remov[al] of defensive weapons in the region,” Landsman told the Washington Examiner last week. “The Administration returned to the practice of notifying Congress of a strike with Rubio briefing the Gang of 8 last week. The strikes are an attempt to prevent further war, not to start one.”
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Despite the concerns, Jeffries and Democratic leadership have pushed for a vote on the Massie-Khanna bill this week.
Jeffries said on Tuesday during a press conference that “there is going to be very strong Democratic support” for the Massie and Khanna measure. When asked by reporters, the minority leader said he hadn’t seen Gottheimer’s alternative proposal.