The U.S. House of Representatives has rejected a war powers resolution seeking to rein in President Trump’s ability to wage war on Iran. On Thursday, every House Republican voted against the resolution, except for Kentucky’s Thomas Massie. It failed on a vote of 213 to 214 after Democrat Jared Golden of Maine crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans. The Senate narrowly rejected an Iran war powers resolution one day earlier. 

Earlier today, Iran’s foreign minister declared, “passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire” in Lebanon. Stock markets rallied on the news, and the price of oil plummeted by about 10 percent.

On Thursday, President Trump repeated his claim that a deal to end the war on Iran is “very close” and that direct talks with Iran could resume in Pakistan as soon as this weekend. Despite the claims, the Pentagon is surging thousands of additional troops to the Middle East, including a 6,000 sailors and aviators joining the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier battle group. The ships were recently spotted steaming around the southern tip of Africa — avoiding a much shorter passage through the Red Sea, where they would be in range of the missiles and drones of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement.