4 Republicans break ranks as House votes to rein in Trump

4 Republicans break ranks as House votes to rein in Trump
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) departs the House floor, following the vote of the U.S. House of Representatives, which passed the bill seeking to release files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 18, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The House of Representatives has voted to limit President Donald Trump's war powers in Iran.

House Democrats had been introducing such resolutions again and again to put pressure on Republicans, who had been consistently voting them down. However, this time, just enough Republicans crossed the aisle to pass the measure, with four GOP lawmakers joining in a 215-208 vote.

The votes invoke the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which in theory mandates that presidents remove forces from a conflict if Congress has not authorized continued operations within 60 days.

According to The Washington Post, Senate lawmakers "advanced a similar resolution last month on a procedural vote," which reflects "growing impatience with a war Congress hasn’t authorized."

This comes after House Foreign Affairs ranking Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) gave a fiery speech against the war earlier this week, saying, “We are trapped in a war that won’t end because an incompetent president launched it thinking of only his own ego while failing to prepare for the consequences. Diplomacy is the only exit from this, not more bombing, not more bluster.”

While the vote is a step forward to Congress reclaiming its war powers, the report noted, the resolution "faces sizable hurdles" as "to reach Trump’s desk, the Senate resolution would require a final vote in the chamber, which could be tough if every senator is voting" and it is unclear whether the resolution is "privileged" under Senate rules, meaning it advances to a vote automatically without needing approval of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

Many Republicans who oppose the resolution have insisted that the war is nearly over anyway, with Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) saying, “We are not in hostilities. We are out there with almost the exact same number of forces that we continually keep in the region.”

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President Donald Trump showed off a surprising size chart during a press gaggle in the Oval Office on Wednesday, leaving onlookers stunned.

Trump held up a chart comparing the size of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation project underway to famous skyscrapers such as the Willis Tower in Chicago, the Empire State Building, and One World Trade Center in New York. The chart was titled, "Our Pool is Bigger than Skyscrapers."

"So, if you lay it on its side, it would take two or three of them to fill it in," Trump told reporters as he held the sign. "The width is almost 200 feet wide."

Political analysts and observers were stunned by the moment and shared their reactions on social media.

"I don’t know who needs to hear this, but skyscrapers are vertical, and pools are flat," journalist Aaron Rupar posted on X.

"He keeps showing off this same chart. Unwell," the MeidasTouch Network posted on X.

"To be fair, the way things are going in his presidency, it's only a matter of time until those skyscrapers are lying on their side," the political advocacy group Majority Democrats posted on X.

"The way in which men like Trump will so predictably hold a public show-and-tell to compare the size of phallic objects…" Michelle Kinney, a Democratic strategist, posted on X.

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A federal judge's ruling stripping President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center may have saved the iconic performing arts venue — or set the stage for its slow death, according to a new Daily Beast analysis.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper's ruling ordered Trump's name removed from the building within two weeks and halted a planned two-year closure for renovations. The order proved a victory for arts advocates who erupted in celebration, but that win may be short-lived.

Trump responded by threatening to abandon the institution entirely.

"Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND," he wrote on Truth Social before demanding the judge be criminally charged.

"He’s threatening to walk away from the mess he created, because of course he is—that’s a textbook Trump move," wrote Eleanor Clift, who covers politics for The Beast.

She concluded: "Like so much of what is happening in Washington, the future of the Kennedy Center is in the hands of a man who cares little about the arts and a lot about himself and how he’s perceived."

Trump fired the entire Biden-era board after returning to the White House, replacing longtime philanthropist chairman David Rubenstein, who had donated and raised millions for the center, with loyalists. Rubenstein's departure left a significant fundraising hole that Trump never filled. Some $257 million in the Big Beautiful Bill was allocated for renovations, but analysts say that falls short of what the performing arts venue requires.

Meanwhile, the cultural damage from 18 months of chaos has been severe. Talent canceled, audiences stayed home, and the management team installed by the White House dismissed experienced staff.

The Kennedy Center's spokeswoman said the board plans to appeal Cooper's ruling.

Democratic candidates are capitalizing on widespread dissatisfaction in Iowa's agricultural sector, where tariffs, Medicaid cuts, and rising fertilizer and diesel costs from the Iran war have devastated farmers.

Iowa, which President Donald Trump won by 13 points 18 months ago, is now experiencing record farm foreclosures and skyrocketing suicide rates, reports Politico.

Democratic Senate nominee Josh Turek stated, "The Trump signs and Trump flags are coming down, because they say we've been betrayed."

The disillusionment extends beyond Democratic circles—Drew Klein of Americans for Prosperity warned Republicans that voters will abandon them if they lose trust on economic issues. Iowa Farmers Union president Aaron Heley Lehman noted people are "feeling a lot of pain right now and not seeing a lot of action to match rhetoric." Democrats are targeting Senate, gubernatorial, and House races simultaneously for the first time since 1968, sensing an opening Trump created in this traditionally Republican-leaning agricultural region.

Watch the video below.


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