The Senate handed President Donald Trump a legislative victory on Wednesday, voting 53 to 47 to reject a war powers resolution reining in his military assault on Iran.
All but one Republican voted to side with the president as he carries out days of strikes against Iranian military targets without express approval from Congress. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the co-author of the war powers resolution, joined nearly all Democrats and voted in favor. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the lone Democrat to join Republicans in opposition.
A simple majority was needed for the measure, which was also led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).
Republicans who weighed support for the resolution or who have been critical of Trump’s strikes, which administration officials have justified to combat “imminent threats,” argued it would endanger U.S. military personnel in the region and national security for Congress to halt ongoing operations.
“In the immediate future, we need to make sure the American people are safe and secure,” Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) said. “And my reading of the situation is, setting aside how we got here, now that we’re at war, it would be very dangerous to the American people if we were to immediately cease action [and] withdraw troops amidst this destabilization.”
The GOP-controlled House will vote Thursday on its bipartisan version of an Iran war powers resolution, led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). The measure is expected to suffer the same fate as in the Senate.
Even if Congress could have mustered the support needed in both chambers for such a measure, lawmakers would have been unable to overcome a presidential veto. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) dinged Democrats for “wasting time on something that’s not going to go anywhere.”
IRAN RETALIATION FEARS FAIL TO MOVE DEMOCRATS ON DHS SHUTDOWN
The failed endeavor leaves critics, mostly Democrats, grappling with their all but powerless positions to prevent Trump’s latest military campaign against a foreign adversary. The Iran war comes on the heels of Trump forcibly toppling former dictator Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, threatening action in Cuba, and new operations this week in Ecuador against suspected drug trafficking organizations.
Congress failed to pass a similar war powers resolution in January against Trump’s military actions in Venezuela.
David Sivak contributed to this report.
