Senate approves war powers rebuke of Trump over Iran
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- The US Senate approved a war powers resolution 50-48 demanding Trump end the Iran war or seek congressional approval, with Republicans Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Bill Cassidy joining Democrats; Democrat John Fetterman was the lone member of his party to vote no.
- The concurrent resolution is the first passed by both chambers of Congress since the War Powers Resolution of 1973, but is symbolic — it will not be sent to Trump and carries no force of law.
- Trump denounced the vote on Truth Social as "poorly timed and meaningless," claiming Iran is "on the 'ropes'" and that the senators "made my job more difficult."
- The Pentagon asked Congress for approximately $80 billion the same day, most of it to pay for the Iran war — underscoring the gap between the legislature's symbolic push to end the conflict and the executive's ongoing funding requests.
- The White House dismissed the resolution as moot because a ceasefire was agreed on April 7, and noted that two absent GOP senators — Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick — could have changed the outcome.
- The House had passed the same measure 215-208 earlier this month, with four Republicans joining all Democrats — the latest sign of intra-party division ahead of November midterms as the conflict enters its fifth month amid spiked petrol prices.
Why it matters: The resolution has no legal force, but it marks the first time both chambers have invoked war powers against a sitting president since 1973 — and lands the same day the Pentagon requested roughly $80 billion to fund the war it symbolically opposes. Four Republicans in the Senate and four in the House publicly broke with Trump over an increasingly unpopular conflict, exposing thin GOP margins ahead of midterms.
