- Measure presented by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Rand Paul.
- Democrats argue that Trump bypassed Congress when he ordered the air campaign.
- The resolution would have required congressional approval to continue U.S. participation.
WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Wednesday rejected a resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump’s authority to continue military strikes against Iran, in a narrow show of congressional support for a conflict launched without explicit approval from lawmakers.
The bipartisan measure, introduced by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Rand Paul, would have required the withdrawal of US forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress authorized the campaign.
But with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the upper house of Congress and largely backing the president’s decision to attack Iran along with Israel, the resolution fell short by exactly that margin.
The vote came five days into a rapidly expanding conflict that has already killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several senior figures in Tehran, while U.S. troops were killed in an Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Kuwait.
Democrats argue that Trump unconstitutionally bypassed Congress when he ordered the air campaign and say the administration has offered shifting justifications for the war.
“Let me put it this way: There was no evidence presented in that room… to suggest that the United States was facing an imminent threat from Iran,” Kaine told AFP after a classified briefing by administration officials.
Republicans have largely rallied behind their leader, although some have signaled their support could wane if the war expands or drags on.
“Roadside bombs out of Iran have maimed and killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans,” Lindsey Graham, a top Trump loyalist in the Senate and a longtime advocate of confronting Iran, posted on X.
“They mean it when they say ‘death to America’. I’m glad we didn’t let it go any further. I’m glad we didn’t let them build more missiles.”
‘Knocked out’
For the resolution to pass, Democrats would have needed at least four Republicans to join Paul. One Democrat, Pennsylvania centrist John Fetterman, opposed the resolution.
Even if the measure had passed the Senate and House of Representatives (where a vote on a similar resolution is expected Thursday), Trump would have been able to veto it. Congress would have needed an almost certainly unattainable two-thirds majority in both chambers to override the president.
Governments around the world have rushed to evacuate citizens stranded by the war in the Middle East, triggered by US and Israeli strikes that killed Khamenei and sparked retaliatory missile and drone strikes across the Gulf.
Cities like Dubai and Riyadh, long considered isolated from the region’s turmoil, have been drawn into crisis as the conflict spreads across the region.
The debate in Congress over Trump’s authority to wage war reflects a broader unease on Capitol Hill over the scope and duration of the military campaign.
Administration officials told lawmakers in classified briefings this week that the operation could last weeks and require additional funding from Congress. Lawmakers from both parties say the Pentagon could soon seek emergency funding to replenish weapons stockpiles and sustain the operation.
The war powers resolution invoked the War Powers Act of 1973, passed after the Vietnam War, which allows Congress to force votes on military commitments and limits unauthorized conflicts to 60 days.
Democrats had acknowledged that the measure faced major difficulties, but said it was essential to force lawmakers to take a public position on the war.
