Although the bill falls short, the vote results show that cracks are beginning to appear in Republican support for the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran.
Three Republican senators in the U.S. Senate joined Democrats in voting to advance legislation that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to attack Iran without Congressional approval.
The bill ultimately fell short 50-49 in Wednesday’s tally, but the vote showed that support for the war is starting to crack within President Trump’s Republican Party.
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This was the seventh vote since the start of the war, and it received the highest level of support to date.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, a pro-Israel hawk, sided with the Republican majority and single-handedly helped President Trump’s party block the bill.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski broke with her own party for the first time to vote in favor of the war powers resolution. Susan Collins, who is facing a tough re-election battle in Maine, voted in favor of the resolution a second time.
Rand Paul, a Kentucky liberal who has consistently voted to curb the president’s war powers, was the third person to vote in favor of the resolution.
The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the sole power to declare war, but President Trump has never sought Congressional approval to attack Iran.
Since the outbreak of the conflict, Democrats have repeatedly introduced legislation that would limit President Trump’s ability to order U.S. forces to conduct hostilities without Congressional authorization under the 1973 War Powers Resolution.
This law was enacted after the Vietnam War and was designed to curb what was then seen as executive branch overreach that led the United States into war.
Sen. Tim Kaine, one of the Democrats leading the effort to push the vote forward, called Wednesday’s vote “a step forward.”
“My colleagues and I have been forcing votes to stop the war with Iran, and we are moving forward,” Kaine wrote to X. “Today, our War Powers Resolution received 49 votes. My colleagues are hearing from more and more voters. We want this costly and unnecessary war to end.”
Such a bill is unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, and if passed, it would almost certainly be vetoed by President Trump. Still, the vote put pressure on Republicans to go on record with their position on the increasingly unpopular war.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released earlier this week suggested that two-thirds of American voters think President Trump has not clearly explained why he went to war with Iran.
President Trump closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to attacks by the United States and Israel, causing oil prices to soar.
Despite a ceasefire that took effect last month, Iran’s blockade continues without a comprehensive agreement to end the war. The US Navy’s siege of Iran has exacerbated the energy crisis.
The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States exceeded $4.50 ($1.18 per liter), up from less than $3 ($0.78 per liter) before the war. This surge accelerated inflation across the U.S. economy.
On Tuesday, before departing for China, reporters asked President Trump whether he would consider Americans’ financial situation in negotiations to end the war with Iran.
“Even just a little bit,” Trump said. “When we talk about Iran, the only thing that matters is that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. I don’t think about the economic situation of Americans. I don’t think about anyone.”
President Trump’s comments drew criticism from his rivals, but Vice President J.D. Vance said Wednesday there was a “misinterpretation” of the president’s comments.
“Of course, the president and I and our entire team care about the economic health of the American people,” he said.
Iran has repeatedly denied developing nuclear weapons, and Trump’s own intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, told lawmakers last year that Iran was not building nuclear weapons.
