Republicans have finally found their spine to stand up to Trump – he won’t like it

WASHINGTON DC – It’s been almost a year and a half since Donald Trump’s second term began, and for the first time since he took back the Oval Office, Republican-controlled Congress has seemingly located enough spine to try to hold him to account.

In the most potent rebuke of his presidency to date, four House Republicans crossed party lines and joined Democrats on Wednesday to call time on Trump’s war on Iran. It was the fourth attempt by the House to rein in Trump’s war powers, and the first to succeed.

The vote aims to force the President to make a choice: either order a full military withdrawal or seek Congressional backing to wage a war that the White House insists is already over. The final vote was 215 – 208, a humiliating defeat that creates complications for Trump as he urgently seeks an offramp from a conflict that is threatening to engulf his presidency.

At a moment when Iran has brought traffic in the Strait of Hormuz to a standstill – sparked global economic instability – and is frustrating Trump’s efforts to strongarm it into a ceasefire deal on his terms, we are seeing the impact in the US, where lawmakers are fighting to save their own hides in November’s midterm elections.

While the vote is seen as largely symbolic, given it must go to the Senate and Trump can veto the measure, the President will see it as a further sign of disloyalty in his party as the war saps his poll numbers.

Before the vote, Marco Rubio, Trump’s Secretary of State, spent two days struggling to persuade members of Congress that the conflict had ended. Yet even as he was testifying before Senate and House committees on Tuesday and Wednesday, the rug was pulled from under him by events in the Middle East and the words of his boss.

After Iran launch retaliatory attacks on Wednesday, one of which damaged the main airport in Kuwait – killing one person and injuring several others – Trump was asked to provide his definition of a ceasefire. “Well, that’s a different part of the world”, he told reporters on Wednesday. “In that part of the world, a ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.”

Iran claimed the attacks were in response to the US targeting an oil tanker and one of its communications towers.

Trump’s message upended previous claims made by him and his top officials, who have repeatedly claimed the war ended two months ago, when a short-term ceasefire was agreement, and that any hostilities since then have been purely defensive in nature.

They have argued that there is no requirement to seek Congressional authorisation for a conflict that has already ended. But on Wednesday afternoon, accompanied by cheers on the House floor, the four dissenting Republicans crossed the Rubicon.

Unwilling to defend the conflict amidst spiraling public disapproval, Tom Barratt of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky joined Democrats in voting to wrap military operations up, a move they knew would enrage their party’s leader.

One of the dissidents, Massie, has openly criticised the war from its opening salvos, and claims the White House is covering up the full nature of Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He is also now a lawmaker with nothing left to lose. Last month, Massie was deselected by voters in Kentucky’s Republican primary after Trump ordered his Maga faithful to “throw the bum out”.

The President accused Massie of disloyalty, calling him “the worst Congressman in the history of our country” and endorsed his rival, who romped to victory and will now face off against a Democrat in November.

That move could backfire on the President, who is also facing problems in the Senate, where the Iran war measure requires support if it is to advance to Trump’s desk – and a date with a possible presidential veto.

Two prominent senators – Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas – were also deselected last month on Trump’s orders. They will remain in the Senate until January, and with the libertarian Rand Paul of Kentucky openly hostile to the war, there is a real possibility that Trump will not be able to count on enough support to stave off another catastrophic defeat.

At that point, the political crisis created by the war may intensify.

Senate Republicans have already shown some frustration with Trump, removing $1bn in funding for his White House ballroom on Wednesday from a sprawling immigration funding. Trump has been pushing for the money, which he claims is necessary for security measures, but has faced considerable backlash.

When it comes to the war with Iran, the White House maintains the War Powers Resolution – which states that any conflict exceeding 60 days must be brought to Congress for approval – is unconstitutional and puts national security at risk by tying the President’s hands.

That question has never been fully tested in the courts, and Trump doesn’t like any suggestion there are limits to his presidential powers.

But if the measure reaches his desk and Trump vetoes it, he faces the prospect of even greater public hostility at a time when polls show his approval rating already hitting record lows, caused by the economic impact of his war.

Trump compounded the sense of growing crisis earlier this week when an CNBC anchor asked him whether negotiations with Iran were collapsing. “I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less”, the President said, indicating that the discussions had “started to get very boring”.

As the conflict drags on without resolution, Republican lawmakers seem to have now taken the dramatic step to try to concentrate his mind.