WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, representatives voted on H.Con.Res.21, introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz, “Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Syria.”
The bill failed to pass, receiving 103 ‘yes’ votes (56 Democratic, 47 Republican), and 321 ‘no’ votes (150 Democratic, 171 Republican), with 11 representatives not voting.
The Republican vote for the withdrawal of U.S. Armed Forces nearly doubled from a similar NDAA amendment vote last year, led by Rep. Bowman.
This vote marks the largest number of Republican representatives to ever vote in favor withdrawing U.S. forces pursuant to a War Powers Resolution in history.
Following the vote, Cavan Kharrazian, Policy Advisor at Demand Progress, issued the following statement:
“Despite the extremely quick turnaround for this bill, lack of Democratic co-sponsors, and general approach of this bill, we are excited to see the largest number of Republicans in history to vote to remove U.S. troops from unauthorized hostilities through a War Powers Resolution.
“We are also happy to see many Democratic representatives, which, despite partisan politics, stuck by their principles and voted in favor of defending congressional war powers.
“We are confident that in the coming months, and with a thoughtful bipartisan strategy, we will see these numbers in support of challenging endless and unauthorized U.S. involvement in hostilities — in Syria and elsewhere — grow on both sides of the aisle. We stand ready to support these efforts.”