Washington — In a recent Senate vote, Democrats faced another setback in their efforts to curtail President Trump’s military authority concerning Iran. Despite this, a new Republican senator broke ranks to support the initiative, signaling a potential shift in the political landscape.
The Senate’s motion to advance the resolution failed narrowly, with a 49-50 vote. Notably, Republican Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska sided with the Democrats, seeking to move the measure forward. In a surprising turn, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat who voted against the motion.
Senator Murkowski, who had previously opposed similar measures, explained her change of heart. She cited an unmet expectation of further clarity from the administration after a crucial 60-day period elapsed earlier this month. “I felt that it was now time,” Murkowski remarked, emphasizing the need to reassess their responsibilities under the War Powers Resolution.
“We’re in a different place than we were last time we voted on this,” she added, indicating the evolving circumstances that influenced her decision.
The resolution, spearheaded by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, proposed that President Trump be required to withdraw U.S. Armed Forces from any hostilities involving Iran unless there was an explicit declaration of war or specific authorization for military action.
Since the conflict’s inception on February 28, Senate Democrats have persistently endeavored to pass measures to restrict the president’s military powers in Iran. They have attempted six times, with Senator Rand Paul consistently being the only Republican ally. Democrats had hoped that, following the 60-day window, more Republicans would support their latest attempt. However, the outcome suggests that while there is some bipartisan interest, the issue remains deeply divisive.
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to report to Congress within 48 hours of deploying forces if Congress hasn’t authorized a declaration of war, and caps any unauthorized engagement at 60 days. But as the deadline approached, the administration said it did not apply, arguing the clock stopped with the ceasefire reached on April 7. Mr. Trump said in a letter to congressional leaders on May 1 that “hostilities” with Iran had “terminated.”
Democrats have pushed back on the administration’s thinking. Merkley told reporters ahead of the vote Wednesday that he doesn’t accept that the 60-day clock is suspended, saying the war is “at a different stage, and it may heat up again.”
“But this will be the first vote in which we’re looking at it through that lens,” Merkley said.
GOP Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, echoed the administration’s view ahead of the vote, arguing that the hostilities referenced in the war powers resolution “do not exist today and have not existed for some time.”
“My colleagues on the other side of the chamber keep saying that somehow the administration is not in compliance with a 60-day clock,” Risch said. “The operations that began on Feb. 28 have been terminated. The hostilities ended with the April 7 ceasefire. They’re over — full stop.”
But Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who spearheaded the war powers push in the Senate, told reporters that the vote posed the first test of Republicans’ “fidelity to the principle that they have laid down about what role Congress should play in this most important area.”
Kaine noted that Republicans are facing pressure from their constituents on the war’s impact on the economy and high gas prices: “We’re starting to hear doubt creep into their words and into their statements, not only just to us, but more generally.”
“There will be a day, and it might be soon, I believe, where this Senate will say to the president, ‘stop this war,’” he said ahead of the vote. “I don’t know that today will be the day, but I believe that day is coming.”
Merkley cited an “erosion of support, erosion of enthusiasm, an increase in skepticism among our Republican colleagues about this whole operation.” But he outlined two factors that may have weighed on Republicans on the vote: whether they give credit to the ceasefire and the president being overseas in China. He said for Republicans, it “doubles the weight to switch positions while the president’s abroad.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune stressed ahead of the vote that “right now, the president is overseas, he’s negotiating with the Chinese on a whole range of issues, some of which bear on national security.”
“And I think it would be best if everybody hung together and supported the president,” the South Dakota Republican said. “But we’ll see. People have their own minds about some of these issues.”
Merkley said he thinks many Republicans ultimately “are uncomfortable with where they stand, but they’re also uncomfortable with being on the wrong side of Trump.”
Murkowski, who has said she intends to introduce formal authorization for the use of military force in Iran, questioned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about the administration’s authority at a hearing on Tuesday. Hegseth said the administration’s view is that if the president decides to resume strikes against Iran, “we would have all the authorities necessary to do so.”
When Murkowski asked whether it would be “helpful to the president if it was made clear” he had full authority through congressional approval, Hegseth reiterated, “Our view is that he has all the authorities he needs under Article II to execute.”
