- Measure introduced by Democrat Tim Kaine, Republican Rand Paul.
- Democrats argue that Trump bypassed Congress when he ordered the air campaign.
- A resolution would have required the nod of Congress for continued US involvement.
WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Wednesday rejected a resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump’s authority to continue military strikes on Iran, in a narrow congressional show of support for a conflict launched without express approval from lawmakers.
The bipartisan measure, introduced by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Rand Paul, would have called for the withdrawal of US forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress approves the campaign.
But with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber 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 escalating conflict that has already killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior figures in Tehran, while US troops have died in an Iranian attack on a US base in Kuwait.
Democrats argue Trump unconstitutionally bypassed Congress when ordering the air campaign, and say the administration has offered shifting justifications for the war.
“Let me put it this way, there was no presentation of evidence in that room… that suggested the United States faced 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 widens or drags on.
“Roadside bombs coming out of Iran have maimed and killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans,” Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s top loyalists in the Senate and a longtime advocate of confronting Iran, wrote 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 cleared the Senate and House — 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 houses to override the president.
Governments around the world have been scrambling to evacuate citizens stranded by the war in the Middle East, sparked by the US-Israeli strikes that killed Khamenei and prompted retaliatory missile and drone strikes across the Gulf.
Cities such as Dubai and Riyadh – long seen as insulated from the region’s turmoil – have been drawn into the crisis as the conflict spreads across the region.
The debate in Congress over Trump’s authority to wage war reflects broader unease on Capitol Hill over the scale and duration of the military campaign.
Administration officials told lawmakers in classified briefings this week that the operation could last weeks and may require additional funding from Congress. Lawmakers from both parties say the Pentagon may soon seek emergency funding to replenish weapons stockpiles and sustain the operation.
The War Powers Resolution invoked the 1973 War Powers Act, passed after the Vietnam War, which allows Congress to force votes on military commitments and limits unauthorized conflicts to 60 days.
Democrats had acknowledged the measure faced steep odds, but said it was important to force lawmakers to take a public stance on the war.
