Senate Votes 50-48 on Trump's War Powers

The Senate for the first time approved a war powers resolution Tuesday seeking to block US military action against Iran, as lawmakers warily watch President Trump's efforts to resolve a conflict that the administration launched on its own and now needs Congress to fund. It was the 10th time the Senate has tried to stop the war, and the outcome, on a vote of 50-48, was a stunning turnaround from past efforts, the AP reports. The resolution calls for Trump to either end the war or obtain authorization from Congress.

• While the resolution is largely symbolic, and does not fully carry the force of law, it reflects the growing concerns from a number of Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate over both the war and the deal Trump struck with Iran to end it. The House approved the resolution earlier this month. A similar resolution advanced in the Senate last month but wasn't brought forward to a full vote.

• "Time after time, the vast majority of Senate Republicans sided with Trump and his war instead of the American people," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Schumer said Americans have paid the price for "Trump's historic blunder in Iran. It'll go down in the history books as one of the worst foreign policy forays America has ever made."
• In the past, as many as four GOP senators have voted for the war powers resolutions, and they did so Tuesday—Republican Sens Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. One Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted against. The New York Times calls the rebuke a "striking break by the GOP-led Congress with a president who has faced little resistance from his party on any topic, particularly matters of war and national security."
• On this vote, the absence of two Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was admitted to the hospital recently for an undisclosed matter, left the GOP without a full majority to halt the effort. Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, also missed the vote.

• The effort, led by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, only secured Paul's vote from the GOP in March, but more senators flipped after repeated votes in the following months, the Washington Post reports. "We've stepped back from the most active phase of the war, and that's a perfect time for Congress to step back and ask ourselves the question of, 'What should the next chapter be?'—rather than allowing one man to make that decision," Kaine said Tuesday.
• The vote comes as the Pentagon is seeking $80 billion from Congress, mostly for the Iran war, as it backfills munitions and stockpiles. Trump himself is headed to the Capitol this week to meet with GOP senators as Vice President JD Vance has been overseas working to negotiate with Iran to end its nuclear ambitions—which had been among the stated rationales for the war.
• The president is not pleased with the Republicans who have been critical of the deal he struck with Iran, a GOP senator speaking on condition of anonymity tells the AP. The terms of the Iran deal are spelled out in a Memorandum of Understanding that Trump signed last week, starting a 60-day clock for the sides to reach a broader agreement over ending Iran's nuclear program. But Republicans have particularly objected to the $300 billion fund to help Iran rebuild, which is far greater than the $1.7 billion then-President Barack Obama refunded the country under his administration's 2015 Iran deal.