The Dispatch
The United States House of Representatives voted 212 to 219 on March 5, 2026 to block a war powers resolution that would have required congressional approval for any further military action against Iran. The Senate had defeated a similar measure the previous day. Following the House vote, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, stated: “We are not at war. We have no intention of being at war.”
Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, co-authored the resolution with Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, and was one of two Republicans to vote in favour of it. Massie subsequently criticised Johnson’s characterisation of the conflict. The operation against Iran, launched jointly with Israel on February 28, had by that date killed the Iranian Supreme Leader, expended hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles, and produced over a thousand confirmed Iranian casualties. Six United States service members had been confirmed dead. The operation has not been designated a war. Johnson’s statement that the United States has no intention of being at war was made one week after the operation began.
Mike Johnson, 54, is the 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and represents Louisiana’s 4th congressional district. He was elected to Congress in 2016 and became Speaker in October 2023 following the removal of Kevin McCarthy, having served less than seven years in the House — among the shortest tenures of any Speaker in modern history. Before entering politics, Johnson spent nearly two decades as a constitutional lawyer, working as a senior attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy organisation. His inaugural speech as Speaker stated that Scripture is very clear that God is the one who raises up those in authority. He is a Southern Baptist and has described the separation of church and state as a so-called separation. He and his wife host a podcast exploring Christianity’s role in American civil life. Johnson was among the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. He voted to block the war powers resolution.
Thomas Massie, 55, has represented Kentucky’s 4th congressional district since 2012 and describes himself as a libertarian Republican and constitutional conservative. Before entering politics, he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded a haptic technology startup for which he holds 29 patents, and served as Lewis County Judge-Executive in Kentucky. He lives on a 1,500-acre off-grid cattle farm in Garrison, Kentucky, in a house he built himself from local stone, powered by solar panels. He is known in the House as Mr. No for his frequency of dissenting votes, has been described as the most anti-Trump Republican in Washington, and is currently facing a Trump-backed primary challenge in May 2026. Trump has called him a third-rate grandstander. Massie has called for congressional approval of the Iran operation. He voted for the war powers resolution.
The War Powers Resolution was passed by Congress in 1973, over President Nixon’s veto, following the Vietnam War. It establishes presidential reporting requirements and procedures intended to reaffirm the constitutional role of Congress in committing the United States to armed conflict. It has been invoked numerous times since its passage. No president has acknowledged its constitutionality. The last formal congressional declaration of war was issued on June 5, 1942. The operation in Iran has not been designated a war. The terminology remains in effect.
Source Block
- Primary: Newsweek — Thomas Massie reacts to Mike Johnson saying “we are not at war” with Iran, March 6, 2026: https://www.newsweek.com/thomas-massie-reacts-mike-johnson-saying-not-at-war-iran-11635891
- Background — Massie: Wikipedia, Ballotpedia, Roll Call
- Background — Johnson: Wikipedia, Britannica, Louisiana Illuminator
- Internal cross-references:
- Trump military operation / war terminology:
2026-03-27-trump-military-operation-war-congressional-approval.md - Selective Service automatic registration:
2026-04-08-selective-service-automatic-registration-december-draft.md - Operation Epic Fury address:
2026-04-02-trump-address-nation-operation-epic-fury-nearing-completion.md
- Trump military operation / war terminology:
