The US Senate has voted in favor of invoking war powers that would force President Donald Trump to halt military operations against Iran or seek approval from Congress before any further action is taken.
Here’s a closer look at Tuesday’s vote, the 10th attempt by Congress to rein in the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, and what it means for the U.S. government.
Why was this vote taken?
A similar bill was already approved by the House on June 3 by a vote of 215-208, and the Senate passed it by a vote of 50-48 on Tuesday. President Trump’s Republicans hold slim majorities in both chambers.
Speaking on the Senate floor before the vote, top Democrat Chuck Schumer criticized President Trump’s military operations against Iran and advocated for the war powers resolution.
“Trump promised for years to put maximum pressure on Iran, but he ended up creating maximum disruption, maximum disruption, maximum cost to the American people in a terrible war,” Schumer said.
“Time and time again, the majority of Senate Republicans have supported Trump and his war, not the American people. The American people paid the price for Trump’s historic fiasco in Iran, which will go down in the history books as one of the worst foreign policies America has ever undertaken.”
A war against Iran proved extremely unpopular in the United States. A poll released Tuesday by news agency Reuters and research firm Ipsos found that 24% of respondents felt the war was worth the sacrifices.
The Senate passed the first war powers resolution in response to the Iran conflict on May 20, but the effort was little more than a procedural measure and made no progress.
Who voted and how?
Four Republican senators voted in favor of the resolution, along with all but one Democratic member of the chamber.
The Republicans who left on Tuesday were Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Two other Republicans, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, did not vote.
The only Democrat to vote against the bill was John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
What does the resolution say?
The War Powers Resolution “directs the President to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“President Trump would be authorized to use further military force against Iran only if explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific Congressional authorization,” the paper said.
However, the resolution allows for a limited military presence to remain in the Middle East to prevent an “imminent attack” against the United States or its allies.
What does voting mean?
The vote also reflects growing unease among some of President Trump’s Republican supporters about the unpopular conflict that began with the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli airstrike on Tehran.
It is not immediately clear what effect the vote will have on the conflict, but it is the first time that both houses of Congress have passed a resolution directing the president to remove U.S. troops from a war zone under the War Powers Act.
Technically speaking, the Trump administration would now need to seek explicit approval from Congress for any further attacks against Iran. But previous administrations have instead found a route around this problem by securing a more limited authority to use military force (AUMF).
For example, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Congress passed the AUMF, which gave then-President George W. Bush broad powers to conduct what would become a global “war on terror.”
A year later, it passed the AUMF again, authorizing the use of military against Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq, the basis for the 2003 invasion.
These two powers remain in effect, and the president continues to rely on them to carry out strikes without seeking Congressional approval. The assassination of Iranian Supreme Commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020 was authorized by President Trump under the 2003 AUMF.
Additionally, resolutions have no legal effect. So experts said the Senate vote, seen as a rebuke to Trump, was largely symbolic.
What impact will this have on US-Iran talks in Switzerland?
Before Tuesday’s vote, some Republican senators had warned that the war powers resolution would weaken President Trump’s position in the Swiss negotiations.
“If this passes, Iran will just up and walk out of the negotiations,” Sen. James Risch of Idaho told the Senate on Tuesday.
“They’ll say, ‘This is over. Congress told the president of the United States, ‘Leave us alone. We can do whatever we want.’ And they’ll go away.”
How will the Trump administration respond?
Risch also argued that the resolution is essentially useless given its symbolic nature. “It won’t have any effect. The president won’t pay any attention to it,” he said.
The U.S. Constitution gives Congress sole authority to declare war, but that separation of powers has broken down over the past 75 years as presidents have sent U.S. troops into overseas conflicts on their own.
President Trump has cited that precedent to argue that Congressional approval is not required at all.
Appearing on the Axios show last week, President Trump denied that he had learned any “lessons” about the limits of his executive power during the Iran war. “There are no limits,” he said.
The last time Congress voted to go to war was during World War II, but in the decades since then it has passed the AUMF, which authorizes limited military action without Congressional authorization for full-scale war.
During President Trump’s first term, there were concerns that he might use the 2001 AUMF to attack Iran under unsubstantiated claims that Iran supported al-Qaeda.
Some critics said Republicans could become more at odds with Trump over the issue of congressional confirmation as they look to defend their seats ahead of November’s midterm elections.
