For the second time in the U.S. Senate, Republicans tanked a War Powers Resolution that would have halted the ongoing U.S. military operations in Iran.
The 47-52 vote saw all Democrats except for Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., supporting the measure and all Republicans except Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., opposing it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats “will continue to force votes on these resolutions every week until this war ends or Republicans finally find the courage to stand up to Donald Trump.”
Congress never approved the military action in Iran. A few key members of Congress had received advance notice of the strikes but did not vote to authorize them.
“This is a war the administration initiated not only without approval but with shifting reasons for the provocation of us going to war itself,” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told lawmakers prior to the vote Wednesday.
“And the thing that makes this all worse is the enabling Congress is doing of this war, their failure to ask for accountability,” he added. “This body was designed just for that purpose – to provide a check and a balance, to provide oversight. And what we have done is nothing of any substance to play that critical role.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. has eliminated Iran’s comprehensive air defense system, the defense industrial base and the majority of Iran’s naval forces.
But seizing Iran’s uranium resources and implementing actual Iranian regime change appear out of reach in the near future. The first joint coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes in February killed Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. One of his sons, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has succeeded him.
Since the conflict began, the federal government has spent tens of billions of dollars and 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
Some Republicans have expressed concerns over the length of the operation and how it is spiking gas prices.
The fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire expires April 21, but despite exhaustive negotiations, the Trump administration is no closer to a deal with Iran.
