The House on Tuesday rejected a second Lebanon war powers resolution from Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., voting 189-235 to leave President Donald Trump's authority to direct U.S. forces in the country unconstrained as a fragile Israel-Lebanon framework and broader U.S.-Iran peace talks hang in the balance.
H.Con.Res. 108, invoking section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, would have ordered the president to pull U.S. armed forces "from any hostilities in Lebanon" within seven days while preserving security cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces and the protection of diplomatic facilities.
Tlaib's earlier measure, H.Con.Res. 84, failed 324-92 on June 4 after Democrat leaders warned its broader "from Lebanon" language could force the withdrawal of troops guarding the embassy in Beirut.
The revised text carried the backing of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., but still drew 22 Democrat defections, while two Republicans crossed over in favor.
Tlaib told colleagues Monday that the vote was about "immediately ending all U.S. participation in the Israeli government's violent assault against the people of Lebanon," accusing Israel of "ethnic cleansing and territory expansion" through its bombing campaign in the south.
Meeks said the rewrite "corrected the flaws" of the first resolution and would ensure the U.S. stays "out of another forever war." He added that, to his knowledge, U.S. forces are not currently engaged in hostilities alongside the Israeli military there.
House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast, R-Fla., called the measure "a win for terrorists," arguing it shielded the only party still resisting a settlement.
"Hezbollah is the one holdout that is standing in the way of peace between Israel and Lebanon," Mast said. "The Lebanese government wants the fighting to stop. Israel wants the fighting to stop."
The vote landed against a tightening diplomatic backdrop.
An agreement signed last week between Israel and Lebanon ties Israeli troop withdrawal to Hezbollah disarmament, a condition the Iran-backed militia has so far refused. Iran and Hezbollah, meanwhile, have made a full Israeli pullout a prerequisite for finalizing the U.S.-Iran framework to end the war.
As a concurrent resolution, H.Con.Res. 108 was nonbinding and would not have reached Trump's desk.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.