Senate Blocks Iran War Powers Resolution 49-50 in the 13th Vote Since the Fighting Began

The Senate on Thursday rejected a resolution that would have forced President Donald Trump to pull American forces out of the war with Iran, voting 49-50 against discharging the measure from the Foreign Relations Committee and leaving the administration's authority to keep fighting untouched.

The resolution, offered by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., would have required the withdrawal of U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress specifically authorized the campaign. "Under the Constitution, we have the power to end this war today," Gillibrand said ahead of the vote. "Let's use it." She pressed colleagues on both the human and the economic costs of a conflict now in its sixth month.

Three Republicans broke with their party to advance the measure: Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. One Democrat, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted against it. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who has voted both ways on previous war powers measures, this time voted no. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did not vote. The one-vote margin means the outcome would have flipped had McConnell voted yes or had Fetterman not crossed over.

Thursday's tally was the 13th time the Senate has voted on a resolution seeking to constrain or end U.S. military action against Iran since the fighting began in February, and the second such resolution to fail in the past two weeks. Only one nonbinding concurrent resolution has cleared Congress in that stretch, a symbolic rebuke with no operative force. The pattern has been consistent: a handful of Republican defections, never quite enough, and a Democratic caucus that has itself not been unanimous.

The vote came as the war widened rather than wound down. Fighting resumed after a failed ceasefire, with Iranian forces launching ballistic missiles Tuesday night that were intercepted. Jordan said it shot down Iranian missiles for a second consecutive day, Kuwait reported that a strike there killed one person, and drones struck natural gas vessels at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta — the first time Egypt has been hit in the conflict. Iran said U.S. strikes on Thursday killed three of its soldiers. The Pentagon's official toll stands at 18 American service members killed and more than 600 wounded.

The recurring failure of these resolutions has become its own story in the Capitol. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 gives any senator a privileged path to force a vote, which is why there have been 13 of them; it does not give that senator the votes. Supporters say they will keep bringing the measure back, on the theory that the arithmetic changes as casualty figures rise and gasoline prices stay above four dollars a gallon. Republican leadership has shown no sign that it is close to moving.