Democratic division in the shape of Lebanon

Valerie Yurk, CQ-Roll Call on Jun 4, 2026

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As Democrats in Congress pelt Republicans with repeated war power votes — a strategy to test the party’s support for President Donald Trump’s military action abroad — a foreign policy fissure in the shape of Lebanon took form among their own ranks.

More than half of House Democrats voted with Republicans Thursday to tank a measure that would force the U.S. to remove its armed forces in Lebanon, as the White House leads diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The final tally was 92-324.

Two Democrats — House Defense Appropriations ranking member Betty McCollum of Minnesota and Rep. Derek Tran of California — voted present. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the sole Republican who voted in favor.

“We must end U.S. participation in the Israeli apartheid regime’s invasion of Lebanon. The Israeli military continues to target journalists like Amal Khalil and use our tax dollars to commit war crimes,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who introduced the resolution, said in a post. “I urge my colleagues to vote YES on today’s Lebanon War Powers resolution.”

Currently, there are no U.S. servicemembers involved in combat operations or hostilities in Lebanon, according to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Some Democrats worried the measure could hurt U.S. efforts to counter the militant group Hezbollah.

Jeffries and House Foreign Affairs ranking member Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., are instead throwing their support behind a similar Lebanon resolution also introduced by Tlaib that includes extra language aimed at protecting diplomatic facilities and clarifying the measure would not authorize military force in the country.

Despite that, Tlaib pushed for a vote on the initial resolution that did not contain the extra language. She said in a post that “the people of Lebanon cannot wait another month for Congress to act.”

“Every day that we do nothing, 11 more Lebanese children are killed or injured by the Israeli military in this U.S.-supported invasion,” she continued.

But more moderate Democrats like Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said Tlaib’s push could take U.S. troops out of Lebanon who are “defending our embassy and supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces,” not for combat operations.

“It’s a horribly flawed resolution,” Schneider said. “The intention of the people who introduced this is to send a message — they’re entitled to send a message to the Trump administration and to the Netanyahu government, but this resolution only sends a message to the Lebanese people that they’re still pawns in proxy battles that have nothing to do with them.”

In a statement prior to the vote, Jeffries made it clear he would vote against the initial resolution, arguing that Tlaib’s other measure is “the best legislative vehicle to keep U.S. troops out of Lebanon.”

“As demonstrated yesterday, House Democrats are committed to ending Donald Trump’s reckless and costly war of choice in Iran,” Jeffries said in a statement. “We also do not support any effort by the Trump administration to entangle the United States in a war in Lebanon or other parts of the Middle East.”

He referred to a separate Democrat-backed resolution aimed at ending U.S. military action in Iran that the House adopted Wednesday with support from a handful of Republicans, including Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Massie. It marked the fourth vote on such a measure, after three other failed attempts since the war began in February.

That win was largely symbolic for Democrats. The concurrent resolution would likely not be binding even if also adopted by the Senate thanks to a 1983 Supreme Court ruling, though supporters argue that courts haven’t ruled directly on the issue when it comes to war powers.

While Democrats in Congress have been united in opposing the war in Iran, it’s been a needle-threading exercise for members in vulnerable seats who are trying to balance their support for Israel with calls to decrease U.S. military operations in the region — which some say are on behalf of Israel.

The vote comes amid reports of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon. Scheider said he was also worried the resolution would “undermine” any ongoing peace discussions.

“It would send a signal to Hezbollah and Iran that we’re turning our back on the Lebanese people,” he said. “We shouldn’t do that.”