U.S. Senate votes to advance Iran war powers resolution, defying Trump

WASHINGTON: The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a resolution blocking President Donald Trump from ordering further military strikes against Iran, as four Republicans joined Democrats in a procedural rebuke of the White House nearly three months into an unpopular war.

According to reports, the 50-47 vote to discharge a war powers resolution from committee marked a breakthrough for Democrats, though the measure faces significant hurdles before it could force Trump to end the conflict Congress never authorized.

Voting with Democrats were Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the sole Democrat to oppose the measure.

Cassidy, who lost his primary Saturday after Trump endorsed a challenger, voted for the first time to advance the resolution. He said the White House and Pentagon had left Congress in the dark about the war.

“In Louisiana, I’ve heard from people, including President Trump’s supporters, who are concerned about this war,” Cassidy said in a statement. “Until the administration provides clarity, no congressional authorization or extension can be justified.”

Democrats have forced votes on seven similar resolutions with Paul’s support since the war began, all of which failed. But several Republican senators who initially opposed the resolutions have switched their votes as the conflict has dragged on.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-New York, argued before the vote that Trump’s comments Monday, that he was an hour away from ordering new strikes on Iran, demonstrated the need to rein in the president.

“This president is like a toddler playing with a loaded gun,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “If there was ever a time to support our war powers resolution to withdraw troops from hostilities with Iran, it’s now.”

The vote came after the Trump administration missed a legal deadline earlier this month. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires presidents to remove U.S. forces from any conflict Congress has not authorized within 60 days.

Trump hit the deadline May 1 but evaded it by claiming hostilities had “terminated,” even as the U.S. continues to enforce a naval blockade of Iran.

Sen. James E. Risch, R-Idaho and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has echoed Trump’s argument. “Those hostilities do not exist today and have not existed for some time,” he said last week.

But Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, who has spearheaded Democrats’ strategy, argued that the current lull provides an opening for Congress to reassert itself.

“If we’re in a ceasefire where we are trying to find a diplomatic path forward, rather than precipitously start a bombing campaign again, this is exactly the time where Congress should be having a debate about the rationale for the war,” Kaine said on the floor before the vote.

The war remains unpopular. A New York Times-Siena poll conducted last week found that 64% of registered voters think Trump made the wrong decision in going to war, while 30% believe he made the right decision.

The resolution still requires at least two more Senate votes to pass. Three Republicans who opposed previous resolutions including Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama missed Tuesday’s vote. If all vote no next time, the measure would fail 50-50.

The House last week narrowly rejected a similar resolution. Trump would almost certainly veto the measure, and no war powers resolution has ever overcome a presidential veto. The Senate voted in January to advance a resolution blocking Trump from striking Venezuela, only to block it days later after two Republicans flipped under pressure from Trump.