The Senate voted to advance a war powers resolution on Tuesday aimed at halting U.S. hostilities against Iran.
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted with nearly every Democrat to withdraw U.S. forces from the conflict with Iran and confirm that military action against the Islamic Republic has not been authorized by Congress.
Seven similar resolutions have failed to advance in the Senate in previous months. Cassidy switched sides for the first time on Tuesday, and the measure passed 50-47.
Cassidy lost his primary race on Saturday after U.S. President Donald Trump accused him of “disloyalty” and backed one of his opponents. Cassidy voted to convict Trump during his 2021 impeachment over the Jan. 6 riots.
Tuesday’s procedural vote in the Senate discharges Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) resolution from the Foreign Relations Committee and faces additional procedural hurdles before final passage.
Three Republicans did not vote on Tuesday, making passage of the discharge motion possible. Two of the three, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), have been deeply at odds with Trump.
Tillis announced in June that he would not seek re-election to another term, and Trump endorsed Cornyn’s opponent in the bitterly contested Republican Senate primary in Texas earlier on Tuesday.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the lone Democrat to vote against the measure on Tuesday.
Trump would likely veto any war powers measure even if both the House and Senate passed it, but the loss of Republican support may reflect the war’s unpopularity.
A New York Times/Siena poll released on Monday suggests that 64% of Americans think that attacking Iran was the wrong decision, while only 30% believe that it was correct.
