The Senate failed to override President Trump’s veto of a resolution that would have limited his ability to use military action against Iran without congressional approval.
The Senate voted 49-44 on Thursday to override the block, failing to reach the two-thirds majority required to overturn presidential vetoes. Seven Republicans joined with Democrats in voting for the measure. The veto was Trump’s seventh one during his time in office.
The resolution was in response to the president’s decision to take executive action and initiate a drone strike against Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in early January, which killed both him and Mahdi al Muhandis, leader of the Iranian-backed militia group Popular Mobilization Forces.
Trump had scolded Democrats for the resolution in a Wednesday statement and accused them of playing politics with the measure going into the 2020 presidential election.
“This was a very insulting resolution, introduced by Democrats as part of a strategy to win an election on Nov. 3 by dividing the Republican Party,” he said. “The few Republicans who voted for it played right into their hands.”
Sen. Tim Kaine blasted the president’s comments in a speech prior to the Thursday vote.
“What I find so notable about that statement is that the president could not see Congress expressing an opinion about war through any lens other than himself and his reelection,” the Virginia Democrat said.
Eight Republican senators initially supported the measure: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Todd Young of Indiana, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and Jerry Moran of Kansas. All of them voted to override the veto, with the exception of Moran, who did not vote.
