President Trump signaled Wednesday that he would not retaliate against House Republicans who vote to constrain his war making powers in Iran, despite the White House threatening to veto the legislation just one day earlier.
“On the Iraq War Resolution being voted on tomorrow . . . we are down to 5000 soldiers, and going down, and I want everyone, Republican and Democrat, to vote their HEART!” Trump tweeted.
The two measures would repeal the 2002 Authorization of Military Force that authorized the Bush administration’s war in Iraq, as well as block funding for further military operations in Iran that are not approved by Congress. If passed, the measure would likely have traction in the Senate, with at least four Senate Republicans saying that they would support a measure to limit war powers.
Trump’s move, breaking from the White House’s Tuesday warning that the legislation would “embolden our enemies,” drew praise from Representative Matt Gaetz (R., Fl.) — one of three House Republicans to back a non-binding House resolution earlier this month which aimed to curtail Trump’s war powers against Iran.
I love our President.
Especially when he delivers the Trump Doctrine directly through his tweets, not the “statements of administration policy” drafted by neocons in the administration who don’t agree with him. https://t.co/yIzUHvPBhm
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) January 29, 2020
Gaetz tried to explain his support for the original resolution, which was proposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), by claiming that he had come to an understanding Trump, who he claimed is “more antiwar than I am.”
But the Florida Republican’s vote angered fellow Republicans after he attempted to drum up support to join the dissent. Gaetz — a committed Trump ally during the House’s impeachment inquiry — was reportedly left off the president’s impeachment-defense team over the affair.
“The Trump administration was disappointed in the congressman’s vote and is hopeful that as the president’s foreign policy continues to unfold, he will reconsider his points of view,” White House legislative director Eric Ueland said of the situation.