The US House just voted 215 to 208 to end the Iran war, by passing a new War Act, that is unlikely to have any impact on the Iran conflict as US President Donald Trump is widely expected to veto the motion. The same day as the vote went through, Iran bombed Kuwait’s main airport and the US bombed Iran.

“The vote is historic, and misunderstood. It is the first time either chamber of Congress has passed a measure against this war since it began more than three months ago, and four Republicans crossed the aisle to do it," Shanaka Anslem Perera, an independent analyst said in a social media post.

The vote is unlikely to change anything as US President Donald Trump believes the vote was unconstitutional and is expected to block it using his presidential veto.

"But it stops nothing. It is a concurrent resolution: it never reaches Trump’s desk, it still has to pass the Senate, its legal force is disputed, and Trump will contest it. It does not end the war. It measures how toxic the war has become,” Perera added.

Iranian drones and missiles hammered Kuwait’s main airport, killed one and wounded more than 60, and forced it shut. The US answered with a strike on an Iranian military site on Qeshm Island, inside the Strait of Hormuz. Israel kept hitting Lebanon, the sticking point Tehran says any deal must cover. The mediators were already cut off. Oil ticked up about 2%, Brent back near $97, while the strait stayed shut.

The House vote to halt the Iran war, while largely symbolic, further stymies the administration's political priorities during a week where the GOP has already scuttled several of the president’s goals.
House Republicans for the first time failed to block an effort to halt the Iran war, the latest sign that members of the president’s own party are willing to buck him on key aspects of his agenda, say analysts.

Senate Republicans, who already helped push back against Trump on the Iran war in an initial vote, have also rejected the president’sbn-dollar proposal to aid his ballroom project and a Justice Department fund to compensate presidential allies he claims have been unfairly prosecuted.

These moves — as Democrats use surging gas prices and the war to make headway in the run-up to the midterms — indicate a growing tension between the White House and Hill Republicans.

“We’re trying to get some stuff done up here, things that the White House wants done,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. They “get more complicated with the weekly announcements.”

Republicans remain careful when dealing with Trump, particularly after the president backed primary candidates who ousted GOP stalwarts such as Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and libertarian champion Rep. Tom Massie (R-Ky.).

But four House Republicans joined Democrats in Wednesday’s House vote to effectively halt military operations in the Middle East unless Congress authorizes it.

The 215-208 bipartisan vote is largely symbolic, as Trump would almost certainly veto any legislation that restricts his authority. But the politically damaging vote underscores dissent within his own party and could be a catalyst as the Senate considers similar legislation that advanced in a surprise initial vote last month.

And Trump is going to need Republicans to hold the line if he wants to avoid further political setbacks.

Republicans and Democrats have already teamed up to oppose other aspects of Trump’s foreign policy. The House will consider fresh sanctions on Russia this week as well as aid for Ukraine, a package that came to the floor after a bipartisan coalition forced a vote through a discharge petition. Defence policy legislation set for a vote in the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday also renews limits on withdrawing troops from Europe amid GOP hawks’ frustration that the administration is shuffling troops on the continent.