The US House of Representatives resoundingly defeated a war powers resolution on Thursday that would have mandated President Donald Trump withdraw American forces from unauthorized engagements in Lebanon, The Hill reports.
The final tally on the house floor concluded at 324-92-2. A bipartisan coalition consisting of 207 Republicans, 117 Democrats, and lone Independent Representative Kevin Kiley of California united to block the measure.
Conversely, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky stood as the solitary Republican to break party lines and vote in favor of the directive, while Democratic Representatives Betty McCollum of Minnesota and Derek Tran of California chose to record their votes as present.
Introduced by Representative Rashida Tlaib, the failed resolution highlighted the lack of formal congressional consent for current military deployments.
“Congress has not declared war with respect to, or provided any specific statutory authorization for, United States military participation in the military action by Israel in Lebanon, and the United States has not designated any actor inside Lebanon under any authorization for use of military force," it stated.
Defending her legislative push on social media on Thursday, Tlaib used her customary anti-Israel rhetoric.
“11 children are being killed every day in Lebanon. The indiscriminate bombings must stop. The government of Israel has expanded strikes across the country despite a ceasefire," she wrote, failing to mention that the Hezbollah terrorist organization has repeatedly violated the ceasefire, firing rockets and explosive drones on Israeli civilians as well as IDF soldiers.
Even the upper echelons of Tlaib’s own party pushed back against the premise of the bill. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, alongside other senior Democratic leaders, issued a unified statement challenging the resolution's baseline assumptions by arguing that “currently there are no US servicemembers involved in combat operations or hostilities in Lebanon."
The Democratic leadership team further clarified that if legislative intervention becomes necessary, a separate war powers resolution - also authored by Tlaib - would serve as a superior alternative. That secondary bill similarly commands the White House to pull troops from active combat zones in Lebanon, but explicitly dictates that “nothing in this concurrent resolution may be construed to prevent or limit security cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces or the protection of diplomatic facilities."
Tlaib has been a vocal critic of Israel ever since she took office and has continued her anti-Israel statements and actions during the war against Hamas in Gaza.
She criticized Israel’s alleged “apartheid system" after the Hamas October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, and also criticized the US for providing billions in funding “to support the apartheid government".
She has refused to apologize or acknowledge fault in echoing the phrase "from the river to the sea," which she claimed represented Palestinian Arab freedom while most regard it as a call for Israel's extermination.
Tlaib also came under fire for a statement in which she accused the IDF of "bombing" a hospital in Gaza, which was actually hit by an Islamic Jihad rocket.