Breaking News - Trump Loses Senate Iran War Powers Vote. The Rebukes, Losses, Humiliations Just Keep Coming
“Both houses have now said this war is illegal without our authorization" - Senator Tim Kaine
Big news gang - in the midst of his clown show negotiations with Iran Trump lost a major war powers vote in the Senate this afternoon:
Here’s how the Washington Post described what happened:
The Senate voted Tuesday to block President Donald Trump from resuming the war with Iran, setting up a potentially contentious fight with the White House.
The Senate passed the resolution 50-48, with four Republicans joining Democrats to support the measure. Two Republican senators — Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) and Dave McCormick (Pennsylvania) — missed the vote, allowing the measure to pass.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) voted for the resolution. One Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted against it.
The vote marks one of the biggest fissures between Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate during his second term. It comes days after the Trump administration reached an agreement with the Iranian government to end the war, which several Republican senators strongly criticized for lifting sanctions on Iranian oil and taking steps toward setting up a $300 billion fund to rebuild Iran.
“It’s a big deal,” Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has spearheaded Democrats’ repeated attempts to rein in the president’s use of the military, said of the vote.
Kaine argued that the agreement to end the conflict does not make the resolution any less urgent because Trump could decide to strike Iran again at any time. Trump threatened Sunday to “hit Iran very hard again” if Tehran does not restrain its proxies in Lebanon.
“Both houses have now said this war is illegal without our authorization,” Kaine said.
“The president ought to take the off-ramp we’re giving him,” he added.
The measure, which passed the House earlier this month, cannot be vetoed, but Democrats and Republicans disagree on whether it has the force of law.
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 — the law that Democrats used to force the vote — states that the president must remove U.S. forces engaged in hostilities abroad without congressional authorization if Congress passes such a resolution.
The Trump administration has said that it believes that the law is unconstitutional and that the provision allowing Congress to pass a war powers resolution without giving the president veto authority is on even shakier legal ground.
Thanks to everyone who has called Congress about Trump’s failed war and his disastrous surrender to Iran. This is a very big win for the pro-democracy movement here in the US. Huge props to Senator Tim Kaine for leading the way on this important rebuke of Trump, as he lead the way on the big rebuke of Trump on his tariffs last year.
And yes as of now Trump is scheduled to join the weekly Senate Republican lunch tomorrow. Going to be fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here’s how Politico previewed tomorrow’s lunch, even prior to this ugly vote for the White House:
Donald Trump is about to come face to face with one of his frequent punching bags: Senate Republicans.
They might just be in a mood to punch back.
The president was invited to GOP senators’ Wednesday lunch to push for his No. 1 priority, the GOP election bill known as the SAVE America Act. But several outgoing Republicans who have clashed with Trump said Monday they will be there to deliver a reality check: The bill isn’t passing, and it’s time to move on.
“I’m going to be there front and center,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters. “It will be important if it actually is a constructive exchange of different opinions, and hopefully we can all get on the same page. Right now, we’re not in a great place.”
Cornyn, who recently lost his bid for a fifth term to a Trump-endorsed challenger, reiterated the votes just aren’t there to pass the elections bill: “I’ve been around here long enough and been through enough battles and counted enough votes to know that it doesn’t just magically occur, no matter how much you wish it would happen.”
Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) — who are also departing the Senate in part due to Trump — said Monday they, too, will be at the closed-door lunch and urged Trump to turn the page on the SAVE America Act.
“I’m a co-sponsor, but it doesn’t have the votes, and so it’s time to talk about something else,” said Cassidy, who also lost to a Trump-backed primary opponent.
Trump was invited to the Wednesday lunch by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who oversees the weekly gathering as GOP steering committee chair, at a tenuous moment. Senate Republicans have grown frustrated with Trump’s fixation on the elections bill, are openly questioning parts of his Iran deal and worry that his habit of blindsiding them with sudden policy U-turns is making it harder to preserve their majority in November.
Whether this has the force of law or not we will be debating now, but that doesn’t change what the whole world saw today - Trump continuing to look weak, addled, incompetent and spent…..
More tomorrow all. Tonight let us celebrate!!!!!! - Simon
Props to Senator Kaine for continuing to push the War Powers Resolution(s)--just as he pushed votes on the illegal tariffs.
And SHOCKING to see Sen. Cornyn's post saying the success of the USMNT "is a product of America's historically welcoming immigration system." Yikes, that's what happens when you lose a R primary and can become unshackled from MAGA--at least a little bit.
I have learned to lean into the positive and enjoy the wins as they come. Still life would be so much better if Cornyn, Cassidy, Tillis and others found their balls earlier.