WASHINGTON — The Senate once again narrowly voted down a war powers resolution aimed at curtailing President Trump’s authority to use military force on Iran.
The 49—50 vote to adopt the resolution saw four Republicans join all Democrats except Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) in voting to advance it.
Thursday’s vote marks over a dozen instances in which the upper chamber has considered a resolution to scuttle Trump’s ability to wage war on Iran.
All but one of them — which was voted on in June — have failed. Under the War Powers Act of 1973, Congress has the ability to adopt resolutions telling the president to end a conflict abroad.
That law has never faced a serious test before the Supreme Court and its constitutionality has been subject to debate by some scholars.
The four Republicans who backed the measure included: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-NC).
The measure, which was introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) came on the heels of Trump’s firery address before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, where he floated the possibility of anhilating Iran.
“Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild, and create a far greater country than it ever was before?” he pondered aloud ominously during his speech.
“Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?” he went on. “Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?”
Serious fighting with Iran has largely stopped over recent weeks, as the US maintains its military blockade on the theocratic regime and uses the Navy to escort oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Still, there’s always the possibility that active fighting could flare up again. Over the weekend, Trump was rumored to have been mulling strikes in response to an Iranian-backed militia’s attack on a critical oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia. Ultimately, he decided against carrying out those strikes at the time.
The House had adopted a war powers resolution to prevent military confrontation with Iran back in July.
Despite being in the minority, Democrats have been able to force votes on war powers resolutions to put Republicans on the spot heading into the midterm elections, as polls show voter frustrations with the war and high gas prices that have ensued because of it.
