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Conservative Democrat Sen. John Fetterman (Pennsylvania) has cast the deciding vote to defeat yet another Senate war powers resolution aimed at reining in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, just hours after the House passed a provision to do so.
The resolution, introduced by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), failed to advance in a 47 to 49 vote on Thursday. The resolution would require the U.S. to withdraw from hostilities against Iran until the action was authorized by Congress. This is the 12th attempt in the Senate to pass such legislation.
“The day after starting the Iran war, Trump said it would last ‘four to five weeks.’ It’s now been 146 days,” said Van Hollen. “Thousands of civilians have been killed. Prices are spiking again. We must end this war.”
Fetterman, who has centered his brand around being vehemently pro-Israel, was the only Democrat to vote “no.” If he had voted “yes,” the vote would have ended in a tie.
Last week, Fetterman said that he would leave the Democratic Party if it moved to “officially become the anti-Israel party.”
“Democrats, we’ve always — should support Israel. That’s our special ally, you know?” he said. Israel, which has been pushing for war with Iran for decades, is currently sitting out as the U.S. continues bombing the country, with one Israeli government official saying that this arrangement is “best” for them.
Meanwhile, one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), broke with the party in voting to advance the resolution. Four other Republicans did not vote: Senators Katie Britt (Alabama), Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Rand Paul (Kentucky).
During the ceasefire in June, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Collins, Paul, and Murkowski all voted to advance a resolution to stop the war. This caused the Senate to pass the war powers legislation for the first time during the current war, in a 50 to 48 vote.
However, the White House was livid over the vote. President Donald Trump berated the Republicans who voted for the legislation, calling them “losers” and singling out Cassidy as a “lunatic.”
In a stunning reversal, the Senate then voted against the legislation the next day, sinking the measure 47 to 50. Cassidy, who had previously protested the lack of briefings to Congress on the war, flipped his vote after being chewed out by Trump. Paul switched his vote to “present,” saying that the “hostilities seem to be over.” Trump then thanked Paul and Cassidy for switching their votes in a post on Truth Social.
Thursday’s vote came just hours after the House voted to pass its own war powers resolution, 214 to 208. The resolution garnered support from 210 Democrats and four Republicans.
However, just the day before, the House also passed a bill with $73 billion in supplemental funding for the Pentagon that’s expected to go toward the war efforts. The legislation passed 216 to 214 in a largely party line vote, with two Republicans — Representatives Warren Davidson (Ohio) and Thomas Massie (Kentucky) — voting “no.”
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