On a Wednesday in mid-May, the American Senate turned back a measure that would have required the country to withdraw from its war with Iran until Congress granted permission, a vote that fell 50 to 49 along nearly party lines. The question at its heart is an old one, dating to the aftermath of Vietnam: whether a president may keep a nation at war while calling the fighting something other than war. Trump has argued that a ceasefire ended hostilities and thereby the 60-day limit set by the 1973 war powers law, while Democrats point to ongoing blockades, strikes and attacks on shipping as proof
Senate Blocks Latest Bid to Limit Trump's Iran War Powers, but Republican Support Grows
Three Republicans crossed over, and the measure still fell one vote short.
Mark
The resolution failed, so why does this vote get attention?
Mimi
Because of the margin. It was 50-49, and a third Republican, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul among them, voted to advance it. It's the seventh failed attempt this year, but it's the closest.
Mark
What's the legal dispute at the center?
Mimi
A 1973 law gives a president 60 days of military action before he must stop, seek authorization, or request a 30-day extension. May 1 was that mark, and Trump said a ceasefire had ended hostilities, so the clock didn't apply.
Luke
But that's his claim, and Merkley's is the opposite. Which one is right isn't settled by this vote. All we have are two competing characterizations of whether hostilities continue.
Mimi
Fair. Merkley cites the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, strikes on Iranian ships, and Iran's Hormuz blockade and attacks on U.S. vessels. Those are his descriptions, though.
Mark
And the Republican position?
Mimi
That Trump's actions are legal under his commander-in-chief powers and amount to limited operations. Some Republicans also say Democrats are acting out of partisan opposition.
Luke
Worth noting that Fetterman, a Democrat, voted with Republicans. So the split isn't perfectly partisan, and we don't know his reasoning from this reporting.
Mark
What happens next?
Mimi
Democrats say they'll force a vote every week until the war ends or Trump seeks authorization.
Luke
Whether that gains another Republican vote is unknown. Three is a trend, not a guarantee.
Le Pouls
- A 50-49 Senate vote blocked the Iran war powers resolution, and the margin was razor-thin.
- Three Republicans, Paul, Collins and Murkowski, broke ranks, pushing the measure closer to passage than before.
- Trump says a May 1 ceasefire ended hostilities, sidestepping the 60-day war powers deadline that Democrats insist still applies.
- Democrats cite a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, strikes on ships, and Iran's Strait of Hormuz blockade as proof the fighting continues.
- Democrats vow weekly floor votes until the war ends or Trump seeks congressional authorization, while the White House insists his actions are legal.
On a Wednesday in mid-May, the American Senate turned back a measure that would have required the country to withdraw from its war with Iran until Congress granted permission, a vote that fell 50 to 49 along nearly party lines. The question at its heart is an old one, dating to the aftermath of Vietnam: whether a president may keep a nation at war while calling the fighting something other than war. Trump has argued that a ceasefire ended hostilities and thereby the 60-day limit set by the 1973 war powers law, while Democrats point to ongoing blockades, strikes and attacks on shipping as proof the conflict continues. The narrowness of the margin, and the third Republican who joined the effort, suggests the constitutional argument over who decides on war is far from settled.
On Wednesday, May 13, the U.S. Senate voted 50-49 against advancing a resolution that would have ended American involvement in the Iran war until Congress authorized it. It was the seventh time this year Senate Republicans have blocked a measure like it, but this one carried a new sign of strain: three Republicans, Rand Paul, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, crossed the aisle to support it. Democrat John Fetterman sided with the majority to block it.
The vote came after the conflict passed a 60-day mark on May 1, the point at which a 1973 war powers law requires a president to end military action, seek congressional approval, or request a 30-day extension citing the safety of U.S. forces. Trump did none of these. He declared that a ceasefire had terminated hostilities, and in his view the deadline no longer applied.
Senator Jeff Merkley rejected that reading. Both sides, he said, are still engaged: the U.S. is blockading Iranian ports and striking Iranian ships, while Iran is blockading the Strait of Hormuz and attacking American vessels and tankers. He does not accept that the clock has stopped.
Beneath the procedural dispute lies a constitutional question. Democrats argue that only Congress can declare war and have urged Trump to seek authorization, warning that he may have committed the country to a long conflict without a clear plan. The White House and many Republicans answer that the president acts lawfully as commander-in-chief, and some accuse Democrats of partisan motives. House Democrats have also introduced their own resolutions, which have likewise been blocked.
Senate Democrats say they will return next week and every week after, until the fighting stops or Trump asks lawmakers for approval. With the vote at 50-49, the next question is whether one more Republican, or a shift from Fetterman, could change the result.
On Wednesday, May 13, the U.S. Senate voted 50-49 against advancing a resolution that would have ended American involvement in the Iran war until Congress authorizes it. The vote fell almost entirely along party lines, and it marked the seventh time this year that Senate Republicans have blocked a similar measure.
The resolution was sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon. Every Democrat but one backed it. Three Republicans crossed the aisle to support moving it forward: Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted with the Republican majority to block it. The third Republican vote is what made this attempt different, and it left the measure closer to passage than before, even though it still failed.
It was the first Senate vote since the conflict passed a 60-day mark on May 1. That is the point at which, under a 1973 war powers law passed in response to the Vietnam War, a president must end military action, ask Congress for authorization, or seek a 30-day extension citing "unavoidable military necessity regarding the safety of United States Armed Forces" while withdrawing forces.
President Donald Trump did not take any of those routes. On May 1, he declared that a ceasefire had "terminated" hostilities against Iran, which in his view meant the deadline no longer applied.
Democrats reject that reading. Merkley told reporters before the vote that there is "not a cessation of war hostilities," pointing to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and U.S. strikes on Iranian ships, along with Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and its attacks on U.S. ships and tankers. "Both sides are still engaged in hostilities," he said, "and so I don't accept that the 60-day clock is suspended."
The broader argument is constitutional. Democrats note that the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war, and they have urged Trump to seek authorization for the use of military force. They have also warned that he may have drawn the country into a long conflict without laying out a clear strategy.
Republicans and the White House see it differently. They say Trump's actions are legal and fall within his authority as commander-in-chief to protect the United States through limited military operations. Some congressional Republicans have also accused Democrats of filing the resolutions out of partisan opposition to Trump rather than principle. House Democrats have introduced their own war powers resolutions, which Republicans have also blocked.
Democrats say the pressure will not let up. Merkley and other Senate Democrats plan to bring another war powers resolution to the floor next week, and every week after that, until the war ends or Trump comes to lawmakers for authorization. With the vote at 50-49, the question is whether one more Republican, or a change in Fetterman's position, would be enough to tip the outcome.
Citations marquantes
There's not a cessation of war hostilities.— Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon
Trump declared that a ceasefire had terminated hostilities against Iran, and the White House says his actions are legal.— Paraphrase of Trump and the White House position
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Politics & Governance