Critics Slam Meeks, Jeffries Pushing Off War Powers Bill Just as It Gets Enough Votes to Pass

“Each day we delay increases the risk of deeper US involvement and more lives lost,” said one progressive policy adviser. “Failing to act now means owning what comes next.”

By Stephen Prager, Common Dreams

Democratic Party leaders are under fire after it was reported that they plan to wait until mid-April to hold a vote to rein in President Donald Trump’s powers to wage war with Iran.

Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday that US House lawmakers had abandoned plans to hold a vote this week on a war powers resolution introduced by Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

With a two-week recess beginning next week, postponing the vote means the earliest Democrats could force it again is April 13.

A previous war powers resolution, which came to the floor just days after the US and Israel launched the war at the end of February, failed by a razor-thin margin when four pro-war Democrats—Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), and Juan Vargas (D-Calif.)—joined the bulk of Republicans to kill it.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said at a press briefing on Tuesday that there are “ongoing conversations” about passing a war powers resolution “sooner rather than later.” He said, “When we present something on the floor, it’s our determination to win.”

But Democrats would likely be in a position to “win” the vote if it were held this week. Andrew Solender reported on Tuesday for Axios that following intense criticism from the grassroots base and pressure from party leadership, “most, if not all, of the four defectors are expected to flip and vote for the measure this time.”

Solender later reported that Meeks was undecided about the measure. While the New York Democrat confirmed to Axios that the party had gotten defectors on board, he said he “hasn’t decided whether to force a vote on his war powers resolution this week or in mid-April.”

Democratic leadership has already been accused of attempting to sabotage a previous resolution introduced by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) in late February by waiting to vote on it until after Trump launched the war.

Independent journalist Aída Chávez, who reported on these stall tactics in February, noted that Meeks “previously tried to delay a vote by warning 40 Democrats could oppose it. In the end, just four did.”

“Now Meeks is saying he may not hold the vote because one member could vote no,” Chávez wrote on social media. “If Democrats are unified, this Iran war powers resolution could actually pass… That makes Democratic leadership’s refusal to force a vote ASAP even more indefensible.”

The decision to punt yet another resolution for nearly three weeks has ignited even more outrage and suspicion among progressives, especially amid reports that Trump is sending thousands more US troops to the Middle East and is mulling a ground invasion of Iran.

“It would be extremely alarming for Reps. Jeffries and Meeks to waver now on forcing a war powers vote,” said Cavan Kharrazian, the senior policy adviser for Demand Progress. “Delaying a war powers vote now effectively gives Trump two more weeks to continue and escalate the war in Iran.”

Ryan Grim, co-founder of Drop Site News, went further, accusing Meeks of backing off the resolution precisely “because it now may have the votes to pass.” He contended that “Democrats secretly want this war to continue because it hurts Trump.”

The war is indeed highly unpopular, with 59% of Americans saying it has “gone too far,” according to an Associated Press-NORC poll published Wednesday. Its cascading effects throughout the economy—particularly the sharp increases in gas prices across the US—also have the potential to harm Trump, who has shed support for failing to address the high cost of living.

Andrei Vasilescu, the director of communications for Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Common Dreams that Meeks was “whipping a vote precisely so it passes, and any accusations to the contrary are absurd.”

He said many members of the House are not currently in DC and that passing the resolution would require all of the “yes” votes to be present.

“Ranking Member Meeks could not be clearer about his opposition to the war, and is working through this resolution and all other available tools to hold President Trump accountable for his reckless war of choice,” he added.

He noted that Meeks also introduced a motion on Wednesday to subpoena Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to testify about the war.

According to the Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA), a US-based human rights monitor for Iran, at least 1,443 civilians, including 217 children, have been killed by US and Israeli strikes since the war began on February 28. Lebanon’s Ministry of Health reported last week that more than 1,000 civilians have been killed by Israeli attacks as it expanded its military campaign there in early March.

“This war is a disaster, it’s unpopular, and civilians across the region are dying,” Kharrazian of Demand Progress said. “This is a moment for anti-war leadership, not hesitation. The House should be on the record now, especially when reporting suggests the votes are there to pass a war powers resolution.”

“Each day we delay increases the risk of deeper US involvement and more lives lost,” he added. “Failing to act now means owning what comes next.”