Rep. Barrett draws Trump’s ire after voting to restrict Iran War

U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett was predictably criticized by President Donald Trump after the Charlotte congressman was one of four House Republicans to join all House Democrats in a vote against the Iran War.

The vote was largely symbolic.

But for critics of the war and the administration, there is significant value in the vote, as it signals rare opposition to the president’s military actions.

The war was launched in February over claims that military action was urgently needed to halt Iran’s nuclear programs and topple its military leadership.

Barrett was joined by Republican representatives Thomas Massie (Kentucky), Warren Davidson (Ohio) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania).

The vote was a war powers resolution, seeking to require congressional authorization for further military action in Iran.

The Senate approved similar legislation weeks ago. Four Republican Senators also joined all of the Democrats, with the exception of John Fetterman

of Pennsylvania.

The Trump administration believes that a temporary peace deal, which was not entirely peaceful, reset a 60- or 90-day clock on military action.

That timeline is one of the key legislative issues, and there is a challenge of a presidential veto.

The next steps would require 60 Senate votes to enact a final vote on a war powers resolution, which would take substantially more Republican defections.

If that happens, there would need to be additional votes to reconcile the different versions of the resolution from the House and Senate.

Since the introduction of the war powers resolution in 1973, presidents have always been able to sustain their vetoes.

In a statement, Barrett said, “The War Powers Act of 1973 delegates some of that authority to the president for a limited period of time. That authority has expired, so my consistent belief is that it is time for Congress to decide the scope of the mission and the appropriate limits on the use of force in Iran.”

Barrett was praised by the Ingham County Democratic Party, which fol-

lowed its applause by stating, “At the same time, we ask voters in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District to consider how much stronger our community and country would be with a true champion for working people — someone who fights Trump’s dangerous, costly and lawless agenda every day, not just once in a year and a half. We believe that we have three excellent candidates who will do that.” 

Bridget Brink, William Lawrence and Matt Maasdam are the three Democrats running to challenge Barrett in the November election.

Lawrence said in a post on social media last week, “GOP Rep. Tom Barrett finally decided to stand on the right side of history and vote against the Iran War. … But make no mistake. It isn’t because he suddenly had a change of heart, it’s because he knows his political career is in jeopardy.”

Barrett has a Heritage Foundation score of 92, which is higher than the average Republican score of 85. The score is largely a measure of how close a member of Congress comes to voting with the Trump administration’s priorities.

Michigan’s 7th Congressional District was one of the most contested, and expensive for campaigns, in 2024 and is expected to be a tight challenge again. The seat was previously held by Democrat Elissa Slotkin, who is now U.S. Sen. Slotkin.

The day after the vote, Trump posted to his Truth Social page, “Yesterday, in a meaningless vote, the House voted, 4 bad Republicans and all of the Dumo-

crats, to limit my War Powers, right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Who would do such an unpatriotic thing. They know where the negotiations stand. The Democrats are fueled by Trump Derangement Syndrome. They would rather have our Country fail than give me another, of many, victories. The four Republicans, that’s a whole other story — They’re GRANDSTANDERS! They should be ashamed of themselves. MAGA!!!”

He made the post at 7:13 a.m.

The previous post, the night before, was a pair of photos of police patches with a skull that had a Trump hairdo; the following post criticized Fox News for employing political adviser Karl Rove.