U.S. House rejects impeachment motion against Trump over Iran strikes

WASHINGTON: The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a motion to impeach President Donald Trump over his authorization of military strikes on Iran without prior congressional approval, U.S. media reported.

The resolution, introduced by Representative Al Green of Texas, accused Trump of abuse of power for ordering the strikes without seeking authorization from Congress. However, the House voted 344–79 to table the motion, effectively shelving it.

The effort received limited debate and divided Democrats, with most joining Republicans to block the measure. Still, dozens of Democrats supported Green’s attempt.

“I take no delight in what I’m doing,” Green said before the vote. “I do this because no one person should have the power to take over 300 million people to war without consulting the Congress of the United States of America. The Constitution is going to be meaningful or it’s going to be meaningless.”

Donald Trump said on Tuesday that both Israel and Iran violated a ceasefire he announced hours earlier and he was not happy with either country but especially Israel.

Speaking to reporters before leaving for the NATO summit in The Hague, Trump said Israel “unloaded” right after agreeing to the deal. He also said Iran’s nuclear capabilities are gone.

Trump warned Israel on Tuesday not to drop any more bombs on Iran or it would be a violation of the ceasefire he is trying to broker between the two countries.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it detected launches from Iran to which Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would respond “forcefully”.

Its military defence systems are operating to intercept the threat, it said, instructing the public to enter a protected space and remain there until further notice.

In response, Iranian media reported, quoting state TV, news about a missile attack by Iran on Israel after the ceasefire between the two countries took effect is “denied”.