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On Tuesday, the United States Senate passed a concurrent resolution telling President Donald Trump that if he wants to continue the war on Iran or resume hostilities, he should seek congressional authorization first.
The measure, which has already passed the House of Representatives, is largely symbolic, as it doesn’t carry the legal weight to compel Trump to comply. Still, it signals to the administration that congressional opinion, including among some members of his party, is shifting away from allowing the president to continue the unauthorized war he launched in late February.
The 50-48 vote in favor of the resolution was mostly along party lines. Four Republican senators — Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) — joined with nearly every Democrat in the chamber to pass the resolution. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) was the lone Democrat to vote against the measure. Sens. Dave McCormick (R-Pennsylvania) and Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) were absent for the vote.
While most legal analyses suggest that the measure is unenforceable, at least one Democratic lawmaker indicated that the vote could be used alongside the War Powers Act of 1973 to compel an end to the war through other legal channels.
“Regardless of what President Trump says, this measure is binding under the War Powers Resolution, and I will explore all legal avenues to ensure the executive complies with the will of Congress,” explained House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-New York).
The measure comes as negotiations continue between the U.S. and Iran to create a lasting end to the war. Earlier this month, the two sides agreed to an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), lasting for 60 days, to end hostilities at least temporarily and to hash out remaining disagreements.
In some respects, the MOU already appears to be on shaky ground.
Trump has justified the war by claiming that it secured a promise from Iran’s leaders that they wouldn’t seek a nuclear weapon — a promise they had already made before the war’s start. On Tuesday, he expanded on that claim, stating that Iran had agreed to allow international inspectors back into the country, to ensure they weren’t pursuing nuclear weapon capabilities.
“Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!),” Trump boasted on Truth Social.
However, Iran is disputing that assertion, with leaders of the country saying that no such agreement has yet been made.
Trump has indicated that if Iran breaks promises regarding the MOU or other agreements that have purportedly been made, he would end negotiations “immediately.”
New polling suggests that most Americans are pessimistic about the Trump administration’s ability to produce a deal, and disapprove of his decision to start the war in the first place.
According to an Economist/YouGov poll published this week, two-thirds of Americans, 66 percent, want a deal to be made as quickly as possible, with only 10 percent saying they don’t want that to happen. Eighty-one percent of Americans believe the war will restart if negotiations fail, while only 19 percent say it’s unlikely.
Just a quarter of Americans, 26 percent, said Trump was “right” to start the war. Meanwhile, 54 percent of Americans said that it was the “wrong” decision.
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