Sen. Cory Booker (D.J.) speaks with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, March 5, 2026, after President Donald Trump selected Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to replace Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call Inc. | Getty Images
A group of Senate Democrats on Monday laid out a plan that could force a series of war powers votes unless Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio testify about U.S. military activities in Iran.
“We’re going to force the Senate to meet its obligations,” Sen. Cory Booker (D.N.J.) told reporters at a briefing Monday. “We will use any means necessary to halt business as usual and force the Senate to do what it is already supposed to do.”
Booker was joined by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin), Rep. Tammy Duckworth (Illinois), Sen. Tim Kaine (Virginia), Sen. Chris Murphy (Connecticut), and Sen. Adam Schiff (California). They are part of a group that introduced a series of war powers resolutions over the weekend aimed at blocking further military action in Iran without Congressional approval.
It’s an escalation by a group of Democratic lawmakers who want to check President Donald Trump, who insists Congress needs authorization to continue the war. They argued that the Trump administration had not provided an adequate explanation for the airstrike.
“The president can take military action without coming to us for two reasons: to defend against a continuing or imminent attack, or because Congress has already passed authorization,” Kaine said.
“The administration has not claimed that any prior authorization authorized it to wage this war. … There was no evidence that it was imminent,” Kaine said at a news conference.
The senators have not said when they will push for a vote, but Booker said he wants “immediate action” to hold hearings for Hegseth and Rubio. Murphy called on Hegseth and Rubio to appear in court next week.
“We’re not going to allow the Senate to operate as usual, and we’re not going to silence the Senate until we at least make that commitment,” Murphy said. “I don’t think they can defend this war.”
The Senate blocked the war powers resolution introduced by Kaine and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) last week by a vote of 47-53, falling just short of the 50-vote threshold needed to advance the bill. The House voted 212-219 against a similar bill Thursday.
“We asked our Republican colleagues to recognize their responsibilities as senators and introduced this resolution to maintain checks and balances on the administration,” Baldwin said. “Our Republican colleagues have abdicated that responsibility.”
