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Rep. Ro Khanna: Seven Years of Votes to Keep America Out of a War With Iran

Evidence rating: CONFIRMED for his resolutions and the 2019 House vote. STRONG for his statements, from his own posts and his office's release as quoted.

Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, is Thomas Massie's partner on the House's Iran war-powers resolutions. The partnership matters: it is the clearest example in Congress of the left and right agreeing that a war with Iran is not America's to fight without a vote.

2018 and 2019: the earlier fights​

In May 2018, then-Rep. Keith Ellison announced an amendment he wrote with Reps. Barbara Lee, Ro Khanna, Jan Schakowsky, Jim McGovern, and Walter Jones: "Yesterday it passed the U.S. House, and it makes clear that no law gives the President power to launch a strike against Iran" (Ellison on X, May 25, 2018). In July 2019 the House adopted Khanna's amendment with Rep. Matt Gaetz "prohibiting the use of force against Iran without congressional authorization"; Trita Parsi recorded the vote as "Democrats 223-7, Republicans 27-163" and called it "another example of what can be achieved when the Left and Right come together against war" (Parsi on X, July 12, 2019). On the House floor that month, a colleague said: "We applaud Representative Ro Khanna on the many bipartisan cosponsors of their amendment to prohibit federal funds being used for any military force against Iran without Congressional authorization" (Khanna on X, July 12, 2019).

June 2025: H.Con.Res. 38​

On June 17, 2025, Khanna and Massie introduced H.Con.Res. 38. Khanna's statement: "No president should be able to bypass Congress's constitutional authority over matters of war. The American people do not want to be dragged into another disastrous conflict in the Middle East. I'm proud to lead this bipartisan War Powers Resolution with Rep. Massie to reassert that any military action against Iran must be authorized by Congress" (Reddit r/politics, June 18, 2025). Just Foreign Policy thanked them "For using the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to force EVERY member of Congress to choose a side between diplomacy or war with Iran" (Just Foreign Policy on X, June 16, 2025). Rep. Emanuel Cleaver later said he "proudly co-sponsored H.Con.Res. 38" (Cleaver on X); one summary counted "77, all Democrats" as cosponsors besides Massie (Nick Flor on X, February 19, 2026).

February 2026: forcing the vote​

On February 18, 2026, ten days before the war: "Trump officials say there's a 90% chance of strikes on Iran. He can't without Congress. @RepThomasMassie & I have a War Powers Resolution to debate & vote on war before putting U.S. troops in harm's way. I will make a motion to discharge to force a vote on it next week" (Khanna on X). An embedded post in an X summary, likely his, said: "Funding a war in the Middle East is not America first ... Instead of sending billions overseas, we need to invest in jobs, healthcare, and education here" (X trend page, February 25, 2026). The same page reported that "Top Democrats are working behind the scenes to stop a vote on the Khanna-Massie Iran war powers resolution."

The House rejected it on March 5, 212 to 219. A report in May recalled: "Democrat Ro Khanna introduced bipartisan legislation requiring a congressional vote to authorize the war. The measure was defeated in March by 219-212, with four Democrats voting 'no' and ensuring its defeat" (Unplug The Empire on X, May 16, 2026).

Why he matters to this section​

Khanna's resolutions, from 2019 to 2026, asked the same question this section asks about the draft: should any President be able to send Americans to fight Iran without Congress putting its name on it? His partnership with Massie is the answer to the charge that opposing this war belongs to one party.

Status: Alive. Also alive: Thomas Massie, Keith Ellison, Barbara Lee, Jan Schakowsky, Jim McGovern, Matt Gaetz, Emanuel Cleaver, and Trita Parsi.

Sources​

Research captures: twitter/t46__v550.md, t46__v551.md, t47__v557.md, t47__v560.md, t47__v564.md

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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