When Congress returns to work in June, both the House and Senate are expected to vote on resolutions that would force Trump to stop military strikes against Iran, what’s known as a “war powers” resolution.
House GOP leaders postponed a vote on that before Memorial Day — worried that Republicans would lose that vote for a first time.
(May 21, 2026)
House Republican leaders yanked a planned vote to restrict President Trump’s ability to conduct military strikes against Iran, after it became clear that the resolution, forced to the floor by Democrats, would likely pass.
“You don’t have the votes!” Democrats shouted in a heated moment on the House floor, when Republicans moved to delay the vote until after lawmakers return from a weeklong Memorial Day recess.
Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders said Monday he will force a vote this week on legislation to block the sale of nearly half a billion dollars’ worth of bombs and bulldozers to the Israeli military. Meanwhile, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats will compel a vote on an Iran war powers resolution, now that the House is back in session.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— CODEPINK and the DC Against Trump Agenda Coalition announced plans to “welcome back” members of Congress on April 14, coinciding with Congress‘s return from recess, to demand an immediate end to the U.S. war on Iran.
The demonstration is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the intersection of Independence Avenue SE and New Jersey Avenue SE in Washington, D.C. After the “welcome” reception, participants will flood the halls of Congress with the demands for peace. Activists will have banners that read, “No War on Iran”, “Let Cuba Live”, “Stop Arming Israel”, “Fund Communities Not War” with Palestinian, Cuban, and Lebanese flags.
“Congress has been in recess while the war rages on. It’s shameful but unsurprising,” explained CODEPINK’s Olivia DiNucci.
The agreement would fund other DHS components, such as the Transportation Security Administration and US Coast Guard, but the House will still need to act before funded agencies within the department can reopen.
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However, asked whether he believes the House will adopt the same measure to fund most of the department, Thune said, “I don’t know what the House will do.”
“It looks like everybody is going to stare at each other for a little while,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday, before nodding at lawmakers’ best hope for getting a deal — their overwhelming desire to leave town.
“You know how it is around here, it’s not Thursday yet,” he said.
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One GOP senator, granted anonymity to speak candidly, summed up their feelings: “I just want to go home.”
A spokesperson for Democrats on the committee told Common Dreams on Wednesday that Meeks was very much committed to passing a bill to “hold President Trump accountable for his reckless war of choice,” but that one could not be pursued until April 13, after the recess, because some of the necessary “yes” votes had left Washington.
Drop Site News co-founder Ryan Grim described this as a “pathetic” excuse. “As Trump threatens a ground invasion, Democratic members of Congress are saying they won’t do the one thing they are elected to do: Show up and vote,” he wrote on social media.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says a US annexation of Greenland, a sovereign part of the Kingdom of Denmark, would mean that ‚everything would be over‘ as parliament‘s Foreign Affairs Committee was summoned to an extraordinary meeting in Copenhagen.
“Americans do not want another Iraq. If we intensify hostilities in Venezuela, we have no idea what we’re walking into,” McGovern said. “At least George Bush had the decency to come to Congress for approval in 2002. Don’t the American people deserve that respect today?”
Bush in 2002 sought and received a formal authorization for his attack on Iraq. Without taking any similar steps, Trump has massed thousands of American service members in the Caribbean without formal approval.
(August 18, 2025)
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to recall Parliament to “impose immediate sanctions” on Israel in a joint letter signed by politicians in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The letter urges the Prime Minister to “act now” to exert pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza.
It has been signed by Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long, SDLP leader Claire Hanna, the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and the convener of the party’s Holyrood group Stuart McMillan.
(August 19, 2025)
Parties joining in the SDLP-led letter include Sinn Féin, Alliance, the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and People Before Profit.
The letter calls for Parliament to be recalled as well as urgent diplomatic intervention and an end to arms sales to Israel.
It is understood Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will respond to the letter in due course.
The Senate will vote on these resolutions when it reconvenes in November. Let me explain why these arms sales must not proceed.
Israel clearly had the right to respond to Hamas’ horrific terrorist attack on October 7th, which killed 1,200 innocent Israelis and took hundreds of hostages. But Prime Minister Netanyahu’s extremist government has not simply waged war against Hamas. It has waged all-out war against the Palestinian people, killing more than 41,000 Palestinians and injuring more than 95,000 – 60 percent of whom are women, children, or elderly people. Netanyahu has bombed hospitals and schools, starved children, destroyed infrastructure and housing stock, and made life unlivable in Gaza. The United States must end its complicity in this atrocity.
Sending more weapons is not only immoral, it is also illegal. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act lay out clear requirements for the use of American weaponry – Israel has egregiously violated those rules.