US House rejects Trump impeachment effort over unauthorized Iran strikes

The US House of Representatives rejected Tuesday a bid by Democratic Representative Al Green to impeach President Donald Trump over the weekend airstrikes on Iran he carried out without the consent of Congress.

The chamber voted 344-79 against the resolution brought jointly by Green and Republican Representative Thomas Massie. The majority of House Democrats voted with nearly all Republicans in opposing the measure.

It called for Trump "to remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities" in Iran and maintained that Congress alone has the power to declare war under the Constitution.

"I do this because I understand that the Constitution is going to be meaningful or it is going to be meaningless," Green said on the House floor shortly before the vote.

"The president of the United States of America has a duty to consult Congress before taking this country to war. I do it because no one person should have the power to take over 300 million people to war without consulting with the Congress of the United States of America."