'Kicking the Can to Next Week Is Irresponsible': Progressives Rebuke Pelosi for Delaying Iran War Powers Vote

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi faced immediate backlash from progressives Tuesday night after she informed congressional Democrats of her decision to delay the planned vote on a War Powers Resolution to constrain President Donald Trump’s authority to launch further military attacks on Iran.

Pelosi’s decision to push the vote back to next week, first reported by CNN, came shortly after Iran retaliated for the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani with missile attacks on U.S. airbases in Iraq. A House War Powers vote was expected as early as Wednesday.

“We have a choice—we do not need to double down on escalation. Congress must end this dangerous cycle and declare, with strength and resolve: #NoWarWithIran.”
—Rep. Pramila Jayapal

Indivisible—part of a coalition of progressive groups leading nationwide anti-war protests on Thursday—said Iran’s strikes should increase, not diminish, the urgency of the congressional effort to restrain Trump, whose hawkish policies and belligerent rhetoric toward Iran have sparked widespread fears of another devastating Middle East conflict.

“Speaker Pelosi, the House should have already voted on a resolution to limit Trump’s authority on Iran,” Indivisible tweeted Tuesday night. “Every day we wait is a message from Congress to Trump to continue this march to war. After tonight, kicking the can to next week is irresponsible.”

Angel Padilla, Indivisible’s national policy director, said in a statement that the “anti-war majority of Americans will be paying close attention to what their members of Congress do, not what they say.”

Advocacy group Just Foreign Policy echoed Indivisible’s demand, urging Pelosi to “immediately” bring to the floor both a War Powers Resolution and Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-Calif.) bill to prohibit any Pentagon funding for a military attack on Iran, which he introduced with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) last Friday.

According to Politico, top House Democrats are considering abandoning entirely the attempt to constrain Trump’s ability to wage war on Iran following the Iranian missile strikes.

“Moderate Democrats had their own reservations about the whole exercise, and are unwilling to draft a resolution that would hamstring the military in its response to future attacks,” Politico reported. “They’re also hesitant to support any language that would directly repudiate Trump for the Soleimani killing.”