Three Republicans joined Democrats, but the measure fell one vote short as lawmakers remained divided over presidential war powers
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy News) – The Republican-led Senate narrowly rejected another attempt Thursday to force an end to unauthorized U.S. military operations against Iran, preserving President Donald Trump’s ability to continue the campaign without a new authorization from Congress.
The Senate voted 49–50 against discharging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s war powers resolution from the Foreign Relations Committee. The measure would have directed the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran that Congress has not formally authorized.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul of Kentucky joined Democrats in supporting the resolution. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to oppose it, while Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky did not vote.
The result marked the latest in a series of closely divided Senate votes over the Iran war. A similar resolution failed 47–49 on July 23, even as lawmakers from both parties voiced growing concern about the duration, cost, and widening regional scope of the conflict.
Supporters argued that the Constitution gives Congress—not the executive branch—the authority to declare war and that prolonged military operations should require an explicit vote by elected lawmakers.
The Trump administration and its Senate allies have maintained that the president possesses sufficient constitutional authority to defend American forces and respond to Iranian attacks. The latest vote leaves the administration’s military strategy intact while ensuring the constitutional debate over war powers will continue.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The U.S. Navy has unveiled testing of the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile, known as “Malice,” a next-generation weapon designed to give American carrier aircraft greater reach against advanced aerial threats.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests rose sharply in July, reaching 49,571 — the highest monthly total reported so far in President Donald Trump’s second term, according to government data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley, and analyzed by The Associated Press.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced trip to Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with Russian officials, according to U.S. media reports, marking one of the most sensitive known contacts between Washington and Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The State Department is preparing to send American diplomats back to several U.S. embassies across the Middle East, signaling that Washington believes the immediate threat from the recent Iran conflict has eased, according to reports citing an internal State Department document.
President Donald Trump sharply escalated his trade battle with Canada on Monday, threatening to raise tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts and steel to 50% beginning Jan. 1, 2027, after trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa collapsed late last week.
China pushed back Tuesday against the Trump administration’s expanding sanctions campaign on Iran, signaling that Beijing will not submit to Washington’s effort to isolate Tehran through what U.S. officials have described as a sweeping economic offensive.
Concerns remained Monday over Christian leader Dedi Saputra after a court in Indonesia’s Aceh Province sentenced the convert from Islam to two years in prison for an online video deemed insulting to Islam’s prophet Muhammad.