Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a resolution to curb President Donald Trump’s military authority in Iran, sending a clear message to the country and world: GOP lawmakers are — at least for the moment — unwilling to put a check on the president’s operation in the Middle East, and there’s little Democrats can do about it right now.
The 47-53 vote fell mainly along party lines, with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — the GOP co-sponsor of the effort — the only Republican to join all but one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, in support of the motion.
The measure would direct the removal of U.S. forces from Iran that haven’t been authorized by Congress, pointing to Article I of the Constitution, which gives Congress sole power to declare war.
As the vote was underway, Paul lamented a Congress “without ambition.”
“[James] Madison never imagined or envisioned a Congress with no ambition,” he said. “This is a Congress without really a belief structure in defending legislative prerogative. They just are a rubber stamp for whatever a president tells them to do.”
To be sure, the outcome was widely expected.
Most Republicans have publicly been in lockstep with Trump since the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday, which killed Tehran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran retaliated after the initial attack, prompting an exchange of hostilities between the countries and a spreading conflict throughout the region.
But the tally of lawmakers highlights an important dynamic as the Iran conflict escalates: Republicans, for now, are ready to give Trump unfettered power in the Middle East, even as key questions remain about the size, scope and long-term goals of the mission.
“The commander in chief has the authority to do these strikes,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
In the days preceding the Senate vote, all eyes were on a group of five Republicans who earlier this year voted to advance a separate war powers resolution focused on Venezuela following the U.S. raid and capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
By Wednesday, ahead of the vote, at least two of those lawmakers indicated they would not vote for the resolution, including Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind. (who ultimately flipped and voted against final adoption of the Venezuela measure following immense pressure from the White House).
In a statement hours before the Iran vote, Young wrote, “The United States and our allies are now in conflict with a brutal, hostile, and dangerous regime. I believe that danger will only grow if we limit the President’s military options at this critical moment.”
“An abrupt disengagement could pose increased risks to American lives and interests,” Young added.
It’s a different sentiment across the aisle, where Democrats are up in arms over the way the administration pursued the effort, and are openly concerned about what happens next in the region. But they’re realizing there’s little they can do other than sit back and watch — at least in the near-term.
That idea was crystalized over the weekend when Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., the lead sponsor of the war powers resolution, noted that the measure was unlikely to become law because both chambers are unlikely to support it with veto-proof majorities.
But he underscored the need to make lawmakers vote, so their constituents know where they stand.
“Even if I get a positive vote in the Senate it would have to pass the House, it would have to survive a presidential veto,” Kaine said. “I don’t have a two-thirds margin in both Houses, but I do think it’s really important to put every member of Congress on the record about this.”
On the other side of Capitol Hill, the House is poised to take up its own war powers measure on Thursday — the vote is expected to be tight.
The measure, led by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., would, similarly, direct Trump to remove U.S. armed forces from unauthorized hostilities in Iran.
At least two Republicans have criticized Trump for conducting the strikes without receiving authorization from lawmakers, pointing to Congress’s Constitutional power to declare war — hinting they may cross party lines to vote for the resolution.
At the same time, a handful of Democrats — at least three — have indicated they will likely vote with Republicans to sink the measure, wary of the threat Iran poses toward Israel. Some of those lawmakers, led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., have introduced a separate war powers proposal, giving the Trump administration 30 days before they must end military action against Iran.
House Democrats who served in combat, meanwhile, are urging their fellow Democrats to advance the Khanna-Massie measure. At a press conference Wednesday morning, they argued it is urgent that Congress intervene and prevent another “forever war.”
Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., a veteran of the war in Iraq, said the war powers vote is “about whether we want another war, whether we want more flag draped coffins of young Americans … coming home.”
“We see history — if not repeating — certainly rhyming,” Ryan said. “Every American deserves to know at a minimum: where does your representative stand on sending our blood and treasure overseas?”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday expressed confidence Republicans will defeat the war powers resolution. Johnson insisted the U.S.’s engagement with Iran is not a “war” but an operation “limited in its scope.”
Some key Senate Republicans have said they’re open to other measures that could rein in the Trump administration on foreign policy. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told reporters ahead of the vote he may push for a vote on an authorization for the use of military force to set the parameters of the Iran conflict.
“If it becomes clear this is going to be a prolonged engagement, then we’re going to have to have a discussion about an AUMF,” Tillis said.
Young also said he wants Congress “to engage in oversight and policymaking, including evaluating any potential requests for additional resources or providing additional authorities.”
The administration will likely have to ask Congress for more money for the Department of Defense, a measure that would require 60 votes in the Senate. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, told MS NOW “billions of dollars worth of munitions have been fired off.”
Coons said he’ll want an open hearing on Iran before he can support a funding bill to support the administration’s actions in Iran.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.
Kevin Frey is a congressional reporter for MS NOW.
Jack Fitzpatrick covers Congress for MS NOW. He previously reported for Bloomberg Government, Morning Consult and National Journal. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University.