US House votes to end Trump’s Iran war: Does it matter?

Four Republicans join Democrats in a rare public rebuke of the president. But Congress is still far from being able to stop him from attacking Iran again.

The United States House of Representatives has voted in favour of measures to halt President Donald Trump’s war on Iran as the conflict drags into a fourth month and both sides remain at loggerheads in peace negotiations.

It also comes as opposition to the conflict has grown significantly within camps of Trump’s Republican Party due to the effects on Americans themselves and Trump’s failure to swiftly secure a concrete, lasting deal with Iran.

But for now, the vote will remain largely symbolic because of Trump’s own presidential veto power on legislation and because of Republican dominance in the House and Senate – even though it marks a significant reprimand by lawmakers.

Here’s what happened, why it matters and why it doesn’t mean that Trump can’t – or won’t – launch new attacks on Iran:

On Wednesday, lawmakers in the House, led by Democrats, voted to invoke the War Powers Act, which allows Congress to force an end to hostilities if the president does not get its authorisation after entering an armed conflict abroad.

Since the start of the war, Democrats have argued that Congress, not the president, holds the right to declare war. They’ve repeatedly tried to force a stop to the US-Israel war on Iran based on that argument.

However, the Trump administration has countered that the military operations in Iran do not require congressional approval.

The War Powers Act, which has been in force since 1973, requires the president to seek lawmakers’ approval before entering armed conflict.

Only imminent attacks on the US allow the president to unilaterally deploy troops. In such an instance, the president must inform Congress within 48 hours.

If Congress fails to declare war afterwards, the president must withdraw troops within 60 days of entering the war.

In the case of the war on Iran, critics argued that the US was not under any imminent threat: The US and Israel struck first.

Trump also failed to withdraw thousands of US troops deployed to fight the war at its 60-day mark: around April 29.

House Democrats, who hold a minority of seats in the House, have tried to invoke the act three times since the US and Israel ignited the war on February 28. However, all previous attempts had failed.

Wednesday’s vote count was 215 in favour of the resolution to restrain Trump and 208 against.

The success for Democrats came after four Republicans switched sides in what appeared to be a public rebuke of Tru