The Senate on Thursday rejected a motion to advance a war powers resolution that would have directed President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran, the chamber voting 47-49.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland led the resolution, and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican to join Democrats in voting to advance it; Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the sole Democrat to oppose, and Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky did not vote.
Earlier Thursday, the House voted 214-208 to adopt a separate war powers resolution introduced by Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, with four Republicans — Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — voting in favor.
Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, the president is required to report to Congress within 48 hours of deploying forces if Congress has not declared war, and any unauthorized engagement is capped at 60 days with an optional 30-day extension; the administration said the clock stopped with a ceasefire reached on April 7, the president said in a May 1 letter that "hostilities" had "terminated," and the president formally notified Congress earlier this month that "military action" against Iran restarted on July 7.
Since then, the U.S. launched a 12th consecutive night of strikes on Iranian military infrastructure Wednesday, and the death toll rose to 18 after three U.S. soldiers were killed in an Iranian attack in Jordan last week while another service member died in Iraq during a controlled explosion to destroy an Iranian drone.
GOP Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana defended the conflict on the Senate floor, saying, "there's never been a single president who has stood up to Iran and hit back," and "For 47 years, our troops and our families have been absorbing attack after attack after attack," while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Republicans to join Democrats to "end this war, get our troops out of harm's way, and force Trump to face the reality of this catastrophe," asking, "Will our Republican colleagues join us? Or are they just going to keep their heads in the sand?"