The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to reject a war powers resolution from Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) that would have required President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from Lebanon, with the measure failing 92-324 in a bipartisan rebuke.
More than half of House Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in voting down the resolution, which sought to block American assistance to Israel’s ongoing war against Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and Iranian proxy active in southern Lebanon.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the only Republican to vote in favor. Reps. Derek Tran (D-CA) and Betty McCollum (D-MN) voted present.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) broke with the progressive wing of his party and urged members to oppose the measure. Democratic leaders released a statement shortly before the vote calling Hezbollah a “violent terrorist organization” and a “sworn enemy of the United States,” while pledging to work with Tlaib on a narrower alternative that would carve out exemptions for certain U.S. military operations in the country.
Tlaib, who has publicly accused Israel of committing “ethnic cleansing” in Lebanon, did not mention Hezbollah once in the text of her resolution. Proponents of the measure also declined to name the Iranian-backed group during floor debate.
Republicans seized on the omission.
“Apparently they don’t want to see Israel killing Hezbollah, even though it’s Hezbollah that is killing Israeli children, Israeli adults, Israeli elders,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL).
Mast also raised operational concerns with the resolution’s language, noting it left open questions about U.S. Marines stationed at the embassy in Beirut and ongoing training missions with the Lebanese Armed Forces.
“It doesn’t say anything about whether we can keep the Marines that are in the embassy,” Mast said. “That’s a pretty big oversight. It doesn’t say anything about whether we can keep United States armed forces that are training missions with the LAF. Again, pretty big oversight.”
Floor debate grew heated when Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) accused Tlaib of having ties to Hezbollah. Tlaib demanded Miller’s remarks be stricken from the congressional record, and the presiding chair granted her request. Miller refused to walk it back.
“Yes, I said it. I own it, and I stand by it,” Mast said on Miller’s behalf.
