legislators

The US House of Representatives delivered a stunning rebuke to Donald Trump over his war on Iran on Wednesday, as representatives backed a move to force him to seek approval from Congress or withdraw US forces.

The House voted 215 to 208 in favor of the war powers resolution, as four Republicans voted with Democrats. The dissident Republicans were Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Tom Barrett of Michigan.

“Following repeated attempts to get sycophants in the Republican-controlled House to join us, House Democrats successfully passed our war powers resolution today to stand up for the American people and hold Donald Trump accountable,” the top three House Democrats – Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Pete Aguilar of California – said in a joint statement. “It is now time for Senate Republicans to do the right thing.”

Democratic state representatives in Minnesota staged an overnight sit-in in their house chamber on Thursday after the Republican speaker failed to put a gun violence prevention bill up for a vote.

Samantha Sencer-Mura, a Democratic representative from Minneapolis, first announced the plan on Wednesday from the floor of the state’s house of representatives, giving the speaker, Lisa Demuth, a candidate for governor, 24 hours to give the bill a vote before the sit-in would start.

The sit-in began around 9pm local time. Lawmakers intend to stay until the house comes back in session, which is set for Saturday at noon.

The Minnesota senate, controlled by Democrats, narrowly passed the gun violence prevention omnibus earlier this month. The house, where there is a 67-67 vote tie and a Republican speaker in charge, has so far not taken up the bill.

The push for new gun laws came after a school shooting at Annunciation Catholic church last August, where two students were killed and others injured during a school-wide mass. Minnesota also saw the killings of state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the shootings of state lawmaker John Hoffman and his wife, last summer.

The Senate Minority Leader from New York called on the administration to rehire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cruise ship inspectors and Port Health Station staff laid off during cuts overseen by the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting initiative established during President Donald Trump’s first year in office by billionaire Elon Musk.

In a letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Schumer demanded details about the federal response to the outbreak and current CDC staffing levels. He also urged the White House to restore funding for infectious disease research, vaccine programs and viral threat surveillance, and to rejoin the World Health Organization.