Senate Blocks Iran War Powers Resolution

The Senate blocked an effort Friday to prevent President Trump from taking future military action against Iran without authorization from Congress, less than a week after he directed strikes aimed at the country’s nuclear capabilities.

Senators voted 47-53 largely along party lines against the war powers resolution.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the lone GOP lawmaker to vote with Democrats. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), an ardent backer of Israel, voted with Republicans.

Fifty-one votes were needed for it to pass.

The resolution was authored by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who has long been a supporter of Congress asserting itself to greenlight authorizations of war.

“I think the events of this week have demonstrated that war is too big to be consigned to the decisions of any one person,” Kaine said on the floor ahead of the Friday evening tally.

The vote came after days of complaints from Democrats on the Iran issue.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters that administration officials called to tell him ahead of time that strikes were happening but declined to tell him where or divulge any other information.

Democrats have also questioned the veracity of Trump’s claim that the Iranian nuclear sites that were targeted were “completely destroyed.” That was especially the case after a preliminary classified report indicated that the strikes did not destroy core components of the Iran nuclear program and likely only set it back by a matter of months. More recent statements from the CIA and Trump’s head of national intelligence have disputed the report.

Those questions were still unanswered after top administration officials — including CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine — held a classified briefing for members Thursday.

While lawmakers appeared satisfied by the answers they received, they were still unsure how much of a setback the strikes will prove to be for Tehran.

“The point is: We don’t know,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said after the briefing. “Anybody who says we know with certainty is making it up because we have no final battle damage assessment.”

“Certainly, this mission was successful insofar as it extensively destroyed and perhaps severely damaged and set back the Iranian nuclear arms program. But how long and how much really remains to be determined by the intelligence community itself,” he added.

More congressional Republicans had been expected to jump on board with the war powers push, but some backed off after Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran on Monday that has held up in recent days.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has found himself in a lengthy spat with the administration over the strikes and the party’s mammoth tax package, withdrew his support for a war powers resolution he had introduced with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).

Trump, though, told reporters Friday that he would not hesitate to approve more strikes against Iran if the intelligence community gathers information in future months and years about the nation’s uranium enrichment capabilities.

“Sure, without question, absolutely,” Trump said at a press briefing when asked if a second wave of bombings are possible.

The lion’s share of Republicans have given the administration its full backing.

“President Trump protected our country,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said on the floor earlier Friday, pointing to similar strikes during former President Obama’s tenure that did not require congressional authorization.

“He did it [responsibly], he did it decisively, and he did it constitutionally,” Barrasso said. “I believe [this resolution] is not needed. … It would prevent the president from protecting us in the future.”