Senate Republicans defeat measure to halt Iran strikes despite growing anxieties

Senate Republicans voted largely along party lines Wednesday to defeat a bipartisan war powers resolution to halt military action against Iran, even though a number of GOP senators are voicing concerns about the lack of a clear game plan for ending the conflict.

The motion to discharge the resolution from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee failed by a vote of 47-53.

Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), who regularly opposes deploying U.S. armed forces in foreign conflicts, was the only Republican to vote to advance the measure.

Two key moderate Republicans, Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), who faces a tough reelection, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), whose political base includes Democrats and moderates in Alaska, both voted to block the resolution even as both included notes of caution about the operation.

Collins said before the vote that the administration had done a much better job explaining the mission to members of Congress than it did before the overnight assault to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

And in a statement released after the vote, Collins argued that advancing a war powers resolution would undercut the troops.

But she also warned that the Trump administration has to keep lawmakers fully briefed on the conflict.

“Passing this resolution now would send the wrong message to Iran and to our troops. At this juncture, providing unequivocal support to our service members is critically important, as is ongoing consultation by the Administration with Congress,” she said.

Murkowski on Wednesday agreed that the administration did a better job of earning GOP support for the strikes against Iran than it did before Congress voted on another resolution to halt military action against Venezuela earlier this year.

“I think it is actually better than how they communicated with Venezuela, but that doesn’t say much,” she said.

Even though she voted against the resolution, Murkowski said she has concerns about the lack of a clear endgame for the conflict.

“That’s what most Americans are thinking,” she said.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,282 U.S. adults nationwide found that only 27 percent of respondents approved of the strikes against Iran and 43 percent disapproved.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), an outspoken proponent of Israel using military force to defend itself, was the only Democrat to vote to block the measure.

Speaking before the vote, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) framed the vote as a question “about whether or not senators are ready to send your sons and your daughters into harm’s way.”

He urged GOP colleagues to “take a stand,” arguing “the last thing the American people want or need is another war in the Middle East.”

But GOP senators argued that President Trump has the authority as commander in chief to order thousands of missile strikes and bombing raids.

“I think the president has the authority that he needs to conduct the activities, the operations that are currently underway there,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters. “The president is acting in the best interests of the nation and our national security interests by ensuring that he’s protecting Americans and American bases and installations in the region.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a close ally of Trump, called the war powers resolution “unconstitutional.”

“It sucks,” he said of the effort by Congress to constrain Trump’s authority to launch preemptive strikes. “It’s an unconstitutional shift of power from the commander in chief to the Congress.”

GOP lawmakers warned that pulling U.S. troops from an ongoing military conflict while Iran is launching hundreds of missiles against U.S. bases and installations in the Middle East would be irresponsible.

Some Republicans, however, expressed growing concern that senior administration officials haven’t yet given them a clear answer on how long the conflict will last.

Sen. Todd Young (Ind.), a key swing Republican who voted against the war powers resolution Wednesday, said Congress needs to do a better job of getting answers from the administration about its plan for conducting the operation, which could stretch well into the spring.

He voiced concern about whether there was sufficient planning and engagement from Congress before Trump launched the massive military operation.

“I look primarily to Congress. I think we should have asked more questions. [Media outlets] were reporting for weeks that we’re marching toward war,” Young said. “We should have been holding hearings and asking probing questions and making the case to get a greater measure of unity around this operation on the front end, but here we are. We’re at war.”

Young, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that despite whatever misgivings he might have about how the lead-up to the military strikes was handled by the administration and lawmakers on key committees, it would be dangerous to pull troops out of the field now.

.The Senate voted 53 to 47 against advancing the resolution, largely along party lines, with all but one Republican voting against the procedural motion and all but one Democrat supporting it.

The latest effort by Democrats and a few Republicans to rein in President Donald Trump’s repeated foreign troop deployments, the war powers resolution was described by sponsors as a bid to take back Congress’ responsibility to declare war, as spelled out in the U.S. Constitution.

Opponents rejected this, insisting that Trump’s action was legal and within his right as commander in chief to protect the United States by ordering limited strikes. They accused supporters of the resolution of endangering U.S. forces.

This is not a forever war, indeed not even close to it. This is going to end very quickly,” Republican ⁠Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a speech against the resolution.

The measure had not been expected to succeed. Trump’s fellow Republicans hold slim majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, and have blocked previous resolutions seeking to curb his war powers. Backers of the resolution said they would not give up, and even some Republicans who voted to block it said they would press for public testimony from Trump aides about the administration’s Iran strategy, especially if the conflict lasts for weeks, as Trump has predicted.

Debate about Trump’s buildup of military assets in the Middle East, and American and Israeli strikes on Iran has centered on whether Trump is pulling the country into another “forever war” like the long conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan..

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US Senate backs Trump’s military campaign against Iran, blocks resolution to stop war

The latest Democratic bid was the culmination of repeated attempts seeking to rein in Trump’s repeated foreign troop deployment

The US Senate. Reuters

The US Senate has supported President Donald Trump’s military action against Iran, with the Republican majority blocking a vote on a resolution against sending warplanes to the country.

The Senate voted 53 to 47 against advancing the resolution, largely along party lines, with all but one Republican voting against the procedural motion and all but one Democrat supporting it.

The latest Democratic bid was the culmination of repeated attempts seeking to rein in Trump’s repeated foreign troop deployments. Sponsors described the War Powers Resolution as a bid to take back Congress’s responsibility to declare war, as spelt out in the US Constitution.

‘Not a forever war’

Trump backers defended him, saying that his actions are legal, adding that he is well within his rights as the commander in chief to protect the United States by ordering limited strikes. They said that opponents are trying to endanger the country by moving a resolution against the war.

“This is not a forever war, indeed not even close to it. This is going to end very quickly,” Republican ⁠Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a speech against the resolution.

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In any case, the passing of the resolution was far from reality as Republicans hold slim majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

‘It’s a war’

Meanwhile, opponents have Democrats and the sole Republican have argued that the joint operation by the US and Israel has already caused a lot of damage to Iran and other countries in West Asia, and America has suffered casualties in the region.

“It’s a war,” said Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, a lead sponsor, in a speech urging support for the resolution.