The House narrowly voted Thursday to halt U.S. military action in Iran as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed the conflict has already cost American taxpayers $37.5 billion, marking a sharp escalation in congressional pushback against President Donald Trump's military campaign that's now claimed 18 American lives.
The 214-208 vote requires congressional approval for the war and sends a warning to Trump that his support on Capitol Hill is eroding. Only a handful of Republicans broke ranks to vote with Democrats, while the vast majority backed the president and ceded congressional war powers to the executive branch. The Senate is expected to consider a similar resolution later Thursday morning.
Twelve Nights of Strikes
The congressional action comes as the U.S. military completed its 12th successive night of attacks on Iranian targets, according to Reuters. On Tuesday, the military deployed a B-1 long-range bomber for the first time since fighting resumed 12 days ago. The bomber, which launched from a UK airbase and was spotted on online plane tracking websites, can carry two dozen 2,000-lb. bombs or dozens of cruise missiles while flying faster than the speed of sound at low altitudes.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that American forces targeted Iranian military operations centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure to degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The latest strikes on Wednesday lasted five hours, hitting Iranian military targets including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets. In July alone, U.S. forces have targeted dozens of Iranian military sites on land while resuming a blockade against Iran at sea.
Trump's Escalating Threats
Trump vowed Wednesday to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's joint military command warned that if the threat was carried out, its forces would target regional oil, gas, electricity and economic facilities, state media said. The 1949 Geneva Conventions prohibit attacks on sites considered essential for civilians, and international law experts in the United States said in April that such attacks may amount to war crimes after Trump's threats. Trump's threat that month to destroy Iran's entire civilization drew wide condemnation.
The war began when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases, Reuters reported. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have since killed thousands and displaced millions, according to Reuters. Gas prices have spiked again as the two countries clash over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Congressional Rebellion Grows
Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat who led the resolution on the House floor, said the war has had "no clear mission, no strategy, no end goal." The votes forced by Democrats are largely symbolic but signal that Trump's support is chipping away as lawmakers in both parties have questioned his administration's endgame. Trump has insisted that continued U.S. attacks against Iran don't mean a return to war or long-term action. After the first House vote to halt the war in early June, he posted on social media that it was "unpatriotic" and "meaningless."
Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., read out names of 18 service members killed since the war began during Wednesday evening's debate. "To belittle this mission is to belittle and demean the very service these members gave their life for," Mast said. "Their sacrifice wasn't meaningless. This operation is bringing reckoning for the hundreds of times Iran has attacked and killed people of the United States of America."
The top Democrat on the panel, New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, said presidents are supposed to make the case to Congress. He said the service members who died made the ultimate sacrifice for "an illegal unauthorized war that the American people don't want."
Political Cost of Dissent
Republicans on both sides of the Capitol know that voting against the war can have a political cost. In his post after the June House vote, Trump called the four Republicans who voted with Democrats "GRANDSTANDERS!" and said they should be "ashamed of themselves." He said, "They would rather have our Country fail than give me another, of many, victories." When the Senate passed a war powers resolution on Iran for the first time in June, the president attended a GOP Senate luncheon the next day and called the Republicans who voted for it "losers."
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican who lost his Senate seat in a primary after Trump endorsed one of his opponents, told Trump directly that he needed to give more details to the public about the conflict. "This was supposed to last four weeks. It's lasted four months. Our original objectives haven't been achieved," Cassidy said. Trump argued back, Cassidy later told reporters, and Cassidy told the president that he wouldn't change his vote until he got a briefing. The White House later relented, giving Cassidy a one-on-one meeting, and the Louisiana Republican changed his vote in a late-night do-over vote before the Senate left for a two-week recess.
On Wednesday, Trump traveled to Dover Air Force Base for the arrival and dignified transfer of the remains of four U.S. service members. Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who is leading the Senate effort on Thursday, said, "I do think the combination of the hearings, plus the fact that we are in this new escalatory phase where Americans have been killed, and Americans are experiencing the rising costs — I think it's important that people be held accountable. And this is a very unpopular war."
Public Support Wanes
Most Americans disapprove of the way Trump is handling the situation with Iran, according to recent polling. A Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted in July found that few Americans think the war in Iran has been worth fighting, and most aren't confident that the U.S. military action in Iran and negotiations to end the war will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Only about two-thirds of Republicans approve of Trump's handling of the situation in Iran, according to the poll. Most Republicans, about 6 in 10, think the war has been worth fighting and are confident that the military action and ensuing negotiations will prevent Iran from development nuclear weapons, but a sizable share — about one-third — are unconvinced.
Why This Matters:
The $37.5 billion price tag represents a massive unplanned burden on federal finances at a time when fiscal discipline should be paramount. With 18 American lives lost and no clear strategic endpoint articulated, Congress is exercising its constitutional duty to check executive war-making authority. The votes reflect legitimate concerns about mission creep and the absence of defined objectives that would allow taxpayers and military families to evaluate whether the costs are justified. Trump's threats to target civilian infrastructure like bridges and power plants risk dragging America into violations of international law while expanding the conflict beyond what's necessary to secure the Strait of Hormuz. Gas prices are already spiking, hitting American consumers and businesses. The president's inability to maintain even two-thirds support among his own party suggests the administration hasn't made a compelling case for how this military action serves clear national interests or when it will end.