The United States Senate has passed a bill to pause President Donald Trump\u2019s military campaign against Iran and seek congressional approval before any further action is taken.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the chamber voted 50 to 48 to pass the resolution, which had been approved in the House of Representatives earlier in the month.<\/p>\n
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Republicans hold a majority in the Senate, but four conservatives crossed party lines to approve the resolution, along with nearly all the chamber\u2019s Democrats, save one.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s vote marked the first time a war powers resolution had successfully passed both chambers of Congress. But the effort is likely to be symbolic, as Trump is expected to veto the measure.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s breakaway Republicans included Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky. A further two Republicans did not vote: Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
The lone Democrat to side with Republicans on the matter was Pennsylvania\u2019s John Fetterman.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the chamber floor, top Democrat Chuck Schumer noted that Tuesday\u2019s vote marked the 10th time the Senate had taken up a war powers resolution to rein in Trump\u2019s military campaign against Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor years, Trump promised to put maximum pressure on Iran, but he ended up delivering maximum confusion, maximum chaos, maximum cost to the American people with his disastrous war,\u201d Schumer said.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aTime after time, the vast majority of Senate Republicans sided with Trump and his war, instead of the American people. The American people have paid the price for Trump\u2019s historic blunder in Iran. It\u2019ll go down in the history books as one of the worst foreign policy forays America has ever made.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concerns about war negotiations<\/p>\n
On February 28, Trump joined Israel in launching attacks against Iran, triggering a region-wide war that has continued through this month.<\/p>\n
It was also the second time since returning to office for a second term that Trump involved US military forces in a war against Iran. In June 2025, Trump had also sent bombers to attack three key sites associated with Iran\u2019s nuclear enrichment programme.<\/p>\n
Trump has said the latest war was necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, an ambition it has long denied.<\/p>\n
But critics have characterised the February strikes as an unprovoked act of aggression that has threatened to further destabilise the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Negotiations are currently under way in Switzerland, as the Trump administration and Iran continue to discuss the terms of a ceasefire set out in a June 17 memorandum of understanding<\/a> (MoU).<\/p>\n But whether that memorandum will hold remains unclear. Israel, the US\u2019s partner in the war against Iran, has continued to carry out strikes<\/a> in Lebanon, violating the terms of the agreement, which called for a halt to fighting on all fronts.<\/p>\n Critics of Tuesday\u2019s resolution pointed to the ongoing negotiations as a reason to scuttle the bill\u2019s passage.<\/p>\n The war powers resolution<\/a> \u201cdirects the President to remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n Only if \u201cexplicitly authorised by a declaration of war or a specific congressional authorisation\u201d would Trump be allowed to use further military force against Iran.<\/p>\n The resolution, however, does allow for limited military presence to remain in the Middle East, in order to prevent any \u201cimminent attack\u201d against the US or its allies.<\/p>\n Still, some Republican senators warned the war powers resolution would weaken Trump\u2019s standing in the Switzerland negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this passes, the Iranians are going to simply stand up and walk away from negotiations,\u201d Senator James Risch of Idaho told the Senate chamber.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to say: This thing\u2019s over. The Congress has told the President of the United States, \u2018Leave us alone. We can do whatever we want to do,\u2019 and they will walk away.\u201d<\/p>\n Risch also argued that the resolution was essentially useless, given the all but certain prospect of Trump\u2019s veto. \u201cIt\u2019s going to have no effect. The president isn\u2019t going to pay any attention to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Growing pressure on Trump<\/p>\n Still, the bill\u2019s passage shows a growing congressional consensus against the president\u2019s use of military force.<\/p>\n The war against Iran has been widely unpopular in the US. A poll released on Tuesday by the news agency Reuters and the research firm Ipsos found that only 24 percent of US citizens felt the war had been worth the cost.<\/p>\n Prices for essential supplies like oil, natural gas and fertiliser have spiked since the war began, as a result of the Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and the US response.<\/p>\n Republicans are also facing pressure from voters ahead of November\u2019s heated midterm elections, which will decide whether the right-wing party will maintain its control over both the House and Senate.<\/p>\n In the US, the Constitution gives Congress the sole power to declare war, but that division of power has eroded over the last 75 years, as successive presidents have committed US forces to overseas conflicts.<\/p>\n Trump has pointed to that precedent to argue that he does not need congressional authorisation at all.<\/p>\n In an appearance on The Axios Show last week, Trump denied learning any \u201clesson\u201d about the limits of his executive powers during the Iran war. \u201cThere are no limits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The last time Congress voted to declare war was during World War II, though it has passed authorisations for the use of military force (AUMFs) in the decades since, which allow for limited military engagement.<\/p>\n Some critics point out that Republicans may be more willing to confront Trump over the issue of congressional authorisation now as they defend their seats in the midterms.<\/p>\n Others are in their final months in office, after being defeated by Trump-backed challengers. That is the case for Louisiana\u2019s Senator Cassidy, who has shown more willingness to stand up to Trump\u2019s agenda since his May 16 primary defeat.<\/p>\n A constitutional dilemma<\/p>\n