U.S. House Votes 220-204 to End War With Iran

The U.S. House of Representatives voted late Tuesday night, 220 to 204, to pass a war powers resolution ordering President Donald Trump to withdraw American forces from the conflict with Iran. For Belgrade, this is not just an internal political clash in Washington: a war now in its seventh month is directly moving global oil prices, and through them fuel and energy costs in Serbia, while also showing how unstable American foreign policy, the same policy Brussels and the region lean on for sanctions and security matters, has become in recent months.

This is the third time the House has passed such a resolution since Trump announced large scale combat operations against Iran on February 28, 2026. The vote was led by Massachusetts Democrat Seth Moulton, joined by fourteen Democratic cosponsors, among them Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, named as one of the resolution’s drivers. The text orders the president to withdraw all American forces from hostilities with Tehran unless Congress explicitly approves continued action through a declaration of war or a specific authorization for the use of military force against Iran.

Seven Republicans voted with every Democrat: Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Tom Barrett of Michigan, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, and Zach Nunn of Iowa, who backed such a resolution for the first time. In the two previous votes, in June and July, Republican defections from Trump numbered only four lawmakers, so seven now marks the biggest crack yet in Republican ranks on the issue.

“Tonight, Congress did its job under the Constitution and said enough is enough,” Moulton said after the vote, in a statement carried by United Press International. Meeks framed it this way:

“The American people have made it clear that they do not support this war, and the Constitution does not grant Trump the authority to wage it without the consent of the people and their representatives.”

The Foreign Affairs Committee’s ranking Democrat made clear he saw the vote as a constitutional check, not just a policy dispute.

Zach Nunn explained his vote by saying the window for diplomacy had closed. “With the negotiating window closed, sustained combat operations now require congressional authorization. I will not support another open-ended war,” he told Al Jazeera. Tom Barrett of Michigan told Fox News he had held the same position from the start: “I’ve been consistent on that since the war powers provision expired after 60 days of engagement.”

Most Republican lawmakers still stand behind the president. Marlin Stutzman, a Republican from Indiana, told Fox News that Trump is managing the situation well. “The president has done a good job managing all this. We need to stand with the president right now and with the Iranian people,” Stutzman said.

The resolution was written as a joint measure for both chambers of Congress, so it does not go to the president for a signature or a veto, but it still has to clear the Senate. Senate Democrats have announced the Senate will vote on the other resolution the House already passed no later than October 2. The Senate has passed such a resolution once before, on its tenth attempt, but Republican senators reversed their votes the next day after Trump summoned them to a closed door lunch. None of the resolutions passed so far has reached the president’s desk.

The cost of the war is increasingly being counted in dollars. According to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday, six months of fighting has cost $38 billion, with the office projecting the tab will keep growing by roughly $3 billion a month. The same analysis estimates the war could push inflation up by half a percentage point in early 2027 and warns it is already draining U.S. ammunition stockpiles. The State Department reissued a travel warning on September 15, a sign Washington does not expect the conflict to cool down soon.

Vice President JD Vance addressed the pace of any de-escalation at a September 3 press conference, in remarks carried by ABC News. “Enter a much different phase in a couple of months,” Vance said, suggesting the character of the conflict might not shift for several more months, well after Congress reaches its own conclusion.

Tuesday’s vote is likely the last on the Iran war before the November midterms, as lawmakers head back to their districts this week to campaign nearly full time, with fewer than 50 days left before an election that will decide control of both chambers of Congress. Whether the war with Iran reaches the outcome Congress is demanding by then, or whether the president keeps running operations without lawmakers’ consent, will depend above all on what the Senate does before its announced October 2 deadline.