WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Senate effort to curtail President Donald Trump’s military actions against Iran failed Wednesday, as a mostly party-line vote blocked the beginning of debate on a bipartisan war powers resolution. The 47-53 vote underscores the deep partisan divisions surrounding the escalating conflict and leaves the administration’s authority largely unchallenged.
The resolution, spearheaded by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Sen. Rand Paul, aimed to invoke the 1973 War Powers Resolution, potentially forcing a withdrawal of U.S. forces. However, even some moderate Republicans who have previously supported similar measures did not join Democrats in this attempt. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman also voted with Republicans against the measure.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, speaking on the Senate floor, argued the vote was about preventing further U.S. involvement in a potentially protracted war. “This is about whether senators are ready to send your sons and your daughters into harm’s way,” Schumer said. “The last thing the American people want or need is another war in the Middle East.”
The defeat in the Senate comes as a similar resolution is expected to be debated in the House of Representatives on Thursday, led by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie. That vote is also anticipated to be close.
While the immediate effort to limit military action was unsuccessful, opponents of the conflict are looking ahead to potential future leverage. As the fighting continues, the Defense Department may be compelled to seek emergency war funding from Congress outside of the regular budget process. This could provide an opportunity to constrain the scope of the conflict.
Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell framed the conflict as a response to decades of Iranian hostility. “This weekend’s events are not the beginning of a war but an intent to end one that spans nearly half a century,” McConnell said, adding that the conflict “belongs to the mullahs in Tehran.”
The vote highlights the ongoing struggle between Congress and the executive branch over war powers, a debate that has spanned decades. Senator Kaine released a statement questioning President Trump’s approach, asking if he had “learned nothing from decades of U.S. meddling in Iran and forever wars in the Middle East?”
