Senate Republicans did not agree to push forward a resolution on Friday that would block President Donald Trump’s ability to use additional military force against Iran without explicit authorization from Congress.
By a vote of 53-47, a motion to advance Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia’s measure invoking the 1973 War Powers Resolution failed, with Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — a staunch supporter of Israel — joining Republicans in opposing it.
One Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, crossed party lines to support the measure, which would have needed just a simple majority of 51 votes to pass.
Seven Republicans currently serving in the Senate voted for a similar Iran resolution back in 2020 — a measure that was also championed by Kaine.
Ahead of the vote on Friday, one of those Republicans — Sen. Todd Young of Indiana – said that he “does not believe an Iran war powers resolution is necessary at this time,” in the wake of a security briefing held on Thursday by top members of Trump’s cabinet.
The resolution that failed on Friday would have required that any further hostilities with Iran have authorization by a declaration of war or an authorization of military force from Congress.
Kaine introduced the measure a few days before the U.S. bombed three of Iran’s critical nuclear sites.
On Friday during a speech on the Senate floor, Kaine said there is a prevailing need for the measure due to the shaky nature of the current ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which was announced by Trump earlier this week.
“I pray the ceasefire continues, but I fear we’re going to be back here on this floor,” he said. “And I hope when we are on this floor again, members of this body will stand for the proposition that has been part of our history — that war is too big an issue to allow one person to make the decision that sends our sons and daughters into harm’s way.”
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
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