Fifty-three House Democrats voted Thursday against declaring Iran as the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism — a complete reversal from just three years ago when nearly the entire Democratic caucus voted for the same designation under President Joe Biden.
The resolution, House Resolution 1099, was introduced by Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla. It passed 372-53, with every “no” vote cast by a Democrat. Two Democrats voted present.
The Islamic Republic of Iran “remains the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and provides substantial financial and military support to groups including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis,” it said.
Iran “poses a direct and persistent threat to the United States and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American citizens,” and cited the Pentagon’s finding that “Iranian-backed proxy militias are responsible for the deaths of at least 603 U.S. service members in Iraq — roughly one in every six American combat fatalities.”
All four members of the Squad voted no — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. They were joined by 49 other Democrats including Reps. Maxine Waters, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, and Steve Cohen.
In January 2023, the House passed a nearly identical resolution condemning by an overwhelming vote of 420-1. At the time, every Democrat in Congress voted yes. The lone dissenting vote came from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed out that administrations of both parties have maintained the same position on Iran since 1984.
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, called out the Democratic flip-flop.
“They’re totally going off the cliff because of how much they hate the president,” Gill said. “The House voted on something substantially similar three years ago and nearly everyone supported it. Now you have 53 Democrats who won’t vote for a resolution that simply states Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world.”