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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRepublican presiding over House session, gaveled out without calling on Dem Rep. intending to introduce Iran resolution
Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1JUST NOW: House Democrats were set to try to pass a resolution to halt Trump's war with Iran but the Republican presiding over the session, Chris Smith of New Jersey, gaveled out without calling on Rep. Glenn Ivey, who going to introduce the resolution.
Democrats howled in protest, with some shouting "Shame!"
12:00 PM · Apr 9, 2026
House and Senate lawmakers are at the tail end of a two-week spring recess, but Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., and other Democrats returned to Washington for a routine pro forma session to try to pass the resolution by unanimous consent.
Outside the Capitol, the Democrats slammed Trump for vowing to strike civilian infrastructure targets and blast Iran back to the "Stone Age" unless its leaders agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical shipping lane connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
And Democrats (called on) Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to cut short the recess and call the House back into session to take up a war powers vote. Johnson has ignored Democrats' pleas.
"We've been at war for 40 days. We've only been in session for 33, which is another part of this pattern for the speaker, being away and being on vacation instead of being here getting the people's work done," Ivey told reporters.
"The threats of total annihilation were beyond the pale. It's time for Congress to step in and take control of the wheel," he said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-block-effort-halt-trumps-war-iran-civilization-threat-rcna267345
Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) sought recognition on the floor to pass the resolution from House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), but Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who presided as speaker pro tempore during the session, gaveled the session out without recognizing him.
Other Democrats in attendance Reps. Don Beyer (Va.), Sara Jacobs (Calif.), Mary Gay Scanlon (Pa.), Madeleine Dean (Pa.), James Walkinshaw (Va.), and Suhas Subramanyam (Va.) yelled in objection.
End the war. Let us vote, Walkinshaw said.
The Congress needs to consider this. The time has come, Ivey said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-blocks-democrats-attempt-to-limit-trump-s-iran-war-powers/ar-AA20wA6P
U.S. Representative Glenn Ivey and fellow Democrats slam President Donald Trump over the Iran war, warning of constitutional violations and calling for a War Powers Resolution. Lawmakers accuse Trump of bypassing Congress, risking escalation, and demand immediate action to rein in presidential authority
leftstreet
(40,913 posts)
leftstreet
(40,913 posts)Even though it's performative, it's good they did it.
Trump's second term is revealing how rapidly things are changing, and the pressures on the tried & true procedures and policies of both parties are seriously under fire.
I may see the vote as old-school silliness, but the pols need to get the lay of the land - and fast. If this helps, that's great!
bigtree
(94,353 posts)...and when they do act, it's as if the admonitions against them were a set up.
We need to support the people we put out there to represent us. Lift them up and elevate their advocacy.
Cynicism is a luxury, and it's the entire spiel of critics who think attacking their own leader with projections is more important than voting him in a legislative majority.
The 'pols' know the lay of the land better than most of their critics who have never fought and won actual campaigns against republicans as they have, often repeatedly.
DET
(2,512 posts)Ive been very impressed with James Walkinshaw, who was elected after the death of Gerry Connolly and is my representative in Northern Virginia. He looks like a milquetoast young accountant, but hes been very active and vocal on Democratic issues. He learned well from his mentor.