Washington DC - The US House of Representatives on Thursday refused to reassert control over the authority to wage war as it rejected a resolution that would have forced President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval for his ongoing assault on Iran.

Lawmakers voted down a bipartisan resolution led by Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna.

The measure fell short by 212 votes to 219, a day after the Senate rejected a similar effort, underscoring Congress's limited appetite for confronting the White House in the early days of the unprovoked war.

Even if had passed both chambers, Trump would have been able to veto the legislation – a step that would have required two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override, an almost impossible threshold in the current Congress.

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The vote came less than a week after the US and Israel launched a full-blown war on Iran.

The strikes have already killed senior Iranian government officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and hundreds of civilians, while triggering retaliatory attacks across the region.

The violence unleashed by Trump has also claimed American lives: six US service members were killed in a strike on a US base in Kuwait, intensifying pressure on lawmakers to weigh in on a war that Congress has not explicitly authorized.

"Republicans had their chance to do something that would have been overwhelmingly popular: to say no to Trump's war," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech Thursday.

"Instead, they enthusiastically said yes, and now they own this war with Iran just as much as Donald Trump does."

Under the Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war. The 1973 War Powers Resolution – passed after the Vietnam War – was intended to prevent presidents from committing US forces to prolonged conflicts without congressional consent.

The failed House resolution invoked that law, directing the president to withdraw US forces from "unauthorized hostilities" involving Iran unless lawmakers explicitly approve the operation.

But Republican leaders rallied behind Trump, arguing that limiting his authority during an ongoing war would embolden Iran and endanger US troops.

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Massie, however, insisted Congress must reassert its constitutional role and accused House Speaker Mike Johnson of "Orwellian levels of double speak" for his claim that the US was not technically at war.

"Under our Constitution, the power to initiate war rests solely with Congress," he said. "Congress owes our service members a clearly defined mission, so that when they accomplish it, they can come home."