- Senate Republicans have blocked war powers measures four times.
- Nearly all Republicans remain firmly behind Trump.
- Democrats warn that the conflict could escalate.
A majority of the US Senate on Wednesday backed President Donald Trump’s military campaign against Iran, voting to block a Democratic-led resolution aimed at stopping the war until Congress authorizes hostilities.
The Senate voted 52-47 not to advance the war powers resolution, underscoring its party’s continued support for the Republican president’s war policy more than six weeks after the United States and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran.
Trump said in an interview with Fox Business Network made on Tuesday and broadcast on Wednesday that the war was about to end. Also on Wednesday, Pakistan’s mediating army chief arrived in Tehran to try to prevent a resumption of the conflict, after weekend peace talks ended without a deal.
It was the fourth time Democrats forced the Senate to vote on war powers measures since the war began. All of them have failed in the face of opposition from every Senate Republican except Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Paul, a libertarian who often advocates excessive military spending and a strict interpretation of the Constitution, was the only Republican to vote for the resolution in the last vote. The only Democratic “no” came from Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman. Republican Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia did not vote.
Although the U.S. Constitution says Congress, not the president, can declare war, presidents of both parties have long maintained that the restriction does not apply to short-term operations or if the country is under immediate threat.
“No one will come to help you, Iran”
The White House, and nearly all of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress, say Trump’s actions are legal and within his rights as commander in chief to protect the United States by ordering limited military operations.
Opinion polls show the war is generally unpopular, although opinions differ along party lines. TO ReutersThe /Ipsos poll released March 31 found that 60% of Americans opposed US military strikes against Iran, and 74% of Republicans supported the action, compared to 7% of Democrats.
Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, accused supporters of the war powers resolution of supporting Iran in a speech before the vote.
“No one is coming to help you, Iran, except the 47 people who are here,” he said, referring to the senators who support the resolution.
Democrats said they wanted Congress to take back the constitutional power to declare war and lead the country out of what they warned could become a protracted conflict.
“I urge my colleagues … to choose the path of peace before President Trump’s war becomes irreversible,” Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said in a speech urging support for the vote.
Democratic Party leaders have vowed to continue introducing war powers resolutions until the conflict ends or Congress authorizes continued fighting.
The House of Representatives is expected to consider a similar measure later this week.
