The US Senate on Wednesday rejected an effort to limit President Donald Trump’s authority to continue military operations against Iran, voting largely along party lines to block a war powers resolution that would have required congressional approval for the escalating conflict.
The measure failed by a vote of 53 to 47, allowing the administration to continue prosecuting its joint military campaign with Israel — Operation Epic Fury — that began four days earlier with sweeping strikes across Iranian territory.
The vote marked the first major congressional test of political support for the war, exposing sharp partisan divisions as lawmakers wrestle with the legality and strategic scope of a conflict that has already resulted in American casualties and sparked a regional escalation.
War Powers Act challenge led by Tim Kaine and Rand Paul
The resolution was introduced by Tim Kaine of Virginia and Rand Paul of Kentucky, who invoked a provision of the War Powers Act of 1973 aimed at forcing Congress to rapidly consider measures designed to end offensive military operations.
Paul was the only Republican to support the measure, highlighting the overwhelming support Trump continues to receive from his party on Capitol Hill.
Among Democrats, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania broke with his party to oppose the resolution, reflecting his strong support for Israel and reluctance to limit the president’s ability to act militarily in its defense.
Before the vote, Kaine argued that Congress had been sidelined from a decision that could reshape the Middle East.
“Americans want President Trump to lower prices, not drag us into needless perpetual wars,” Kaine said before the vote. “Yet he unilaterally launched attacks on Iran without congressional authorization.
Kaine and Paul first introduced the measure in January as the administration began building forces across the Middle East, shortly after Trump said the United States was “locked and loaded and ready to go” against Iran.
Republicans rallied behind Trump’s decision to launch strikes
Most Republican lawmakers defended the president’s decision to launch the campaign that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, along with several senior military and political advisers.
Supporters of the operation argued that the strikes were justified given Iran’s long history of attacks against US forces and regional allies.
Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, paid tribute to American personnel killed during the fighting. “Six American Servicemen and Women Who Died in Combat”
He added that he also mourns the “thousands of Americans who have died over the past 47 years at the hands of brutal Islamists.”
Wicker praised the president’s decision to launch the operation as “profound, deliberate and correct.”
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also defended the campaign, arguing that Iran’s hostility toward the United States and Israel was the foundation of the Islamic Republic.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran was literally founded on the premise of an existential war against America and against Israel. And again and again it escalated the war, exported more terror, shed more blood, and destabilized the entire region.”
However, McConnell cautioned that the president’s war powers must remain limited by public support and the national interest, noting that the president’s authority must be exercised in a manner that is
“prudent, rooted in core national interests, and widely supported by the American people.”
Some Republicans warn against deploying ground troops
While opposed to the resolution, several Republican senators signaled that their support for the operation could change if the conflict widens.
Josh Hawley of Missouri emphasized that he would oppose the deployment of US ground forces.
“I’ve always drawn the line against ground troops,” he said, adding that if Trump were to try to send them, “they require some sort of authorization.”
Lawmakers from both parties have also called for continued classified briefings as the scale of the military campaign grows.
Pentagon signals escalation of air campaign
Hours before the vote, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated that the United States would step up its airstrikes against Iran.
Hegseth described the overwhelming air superiority of the US and Israel.
Iranian leaders looked up to the sky “and saw only the American and Israeli air forces, every minute of every day until we decide it’s over. And Iran won’t be able to do anything about it.”
“Death and destruction from heaven, all day long.”
Caine said the strikes severely damaged Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and naval forces as they prepared to expand deeper into Iranian territory. “The campaign devastated Iran’s ballistic missile program and its naval fleet and continued to make “steady progress” with plans to “expand inland and gradually push deeper into Iranian territory.”
Renewed debate over Congress’s constitutional role in war
The failed resolution highlighted long-standing tensions between Congress and the presidency over war powers.
Although the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war, lawmakers have not issued a formal declaration since World War II. Instead, presidents have relied on broad authorizations or their own executive power to conduct military operations.
In this case, the administration’s announcement to Congress did not cite existing authority, instead referring to the president’s “responsibility to protect the American people and the interests of the United States at home and abroad” without pointing to a specific or imminent threat.
Some Republicans acknowledged frustration at the lack of consultation, but argued that halting the operation now could endanger American forces.
John Curtis of Utah said lawmakers should have been involved sooner.
“I will say very clearly: Yes, I wish I had been consulted. I wish my vote had been asked earlier.”
But he argued that withdrawing support at this stage would be dangerous.
Voting to stop the operation, he added, “is not the right answer to this.”
Democrats countered that the vote reflected a troubling erosion of congressional authority.
Adam Schiff of California warned that lawmakers are not following the Constitution.
“I believe the founders’ worst fears have come true,” Schiff said before the vote. “Donald Trump took too much pleasure in going to war and did it again without congressional approval.”
Regional tensions are escalating as the conflict spreads
The Senate vote came as the war showed signs of spreading across the region.
Late Wednesday, Israel launched a new wave of attacks on Tehran, while the Turkish Defense Ministry said NATO air defenses had intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Iran that was heading into Turkish airspace.
If confirmed, such an attack would mark a dangerous escalation involving a NATO member state that hosts a large US military base.
Meanwhile, China – the largest buyer of Iranian oil – announced it would send a special envoy to the Middle East to continue mediation efforts.
Western governments are also taking precautionary measures. The United States ordered additional diplomatic personnel to evacuate embassies in several countries, while Britain, France and Greece began deploying military assets to protect their citizens and strategic interests.
At the same time, Israel stepped up strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and ordered mass evacuations south of the Litani River.
