A split Senate votes against measure to constrain Trump's authorities in Iran - NPR

With a vote on war powers, a split Senate will weigh Trump's authorities in Iran

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

A measure to constrain President Trump's authority to wage war failed in the Senate today as Operation Epic Fury continues in the Middle East. Democrats are pushing to restrain the president while Republicans remain largely behind Trump. A similar war powers measure is also expected to fail in the House tomorrow. Here's House Speaker Mike Johnson explaining why.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MIKE JOHNSON: It would put the country in serious harm, and it would certainly jeopardize the lives of our troops and all those who were involved in making these great sacrifices to defend us.

DETROW: NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales has been following this and joins us now from Capitol Hill. Hi, Claudia.

CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Hey, Scott.

DETROW: So the Senate has voted on several war powers resolutions in the past year with mixed results. How did today's vote on Iran break down?

GRISALES: Well, largely along partisan lines. The vote failed by 47-53. We only saw one Republican join most Democrats to vote yes on this measure. That was Rand Paul of Kentucky. He's been a co-sponsor on several of these resolutions. And Democrats also saw a defection, as Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman agreed with most Republicans, voting the measure down.

DETROW: You know, Congress has ceded its war powers to presidents for decades at this point. How is this war with Iran any different?

GRISALES: Just five days into sustained military strikes in Iran, we heard Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth say today this war has, quote, "only just begun." And following a Tuesday briefing with Trump officials, Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine - he's a leading voice on limiting the president's war powers. He's co-sponsored several of these measures, including the one today. He says this is also about the Trump administration's pattern of behavior when it comes to military action. Here's how he described his concerns.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TIM KAINE: No advance notice. No authorization. We'll give you a hearing after the fact in classified - we can't really talk about it. I said it's convinced many of us in the room that you've decided that you will never come to Congress.

GRISALES: And as we know, the Constitution says only Congress has the power to declare war. So critics like Kaine want to force the president to consult Congress and not just notify them before strikes begin.

DETROW: I want to go back to that clip we heard from House Speaker Johnson saying that this would jeopardize Americans' lives if a restriction went into place. What does he mean by that?

GRISALES: Right. Republicans argue the president had no choice but to respond to an imminent threat. That is, Iran's ability to strike U.S. assets first. Now, they say stopping the war at this stage would put Americans at risk of facing retaliatory strikes.

DETROW: Another factor here is that President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, many other officials are saying that this war could go on for weeks, if not longer. Does that affect how lawmakers are thinking?

GRISALES: Yeah. We're hearing some Republicans say their support for the war in Iran won't necessarily go on indefinitely if conditions of the conflict shift. I asked Republican South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace about this.

NANCY MACE: I do believe that this can be done in a succinct and surgical way. I don't want to see troops on the ground.

DETROW: Claudia, are you hearing concerns from any other Republicans at this point?

GRISALES: Yeah, a few. Going back to Mace's concerns, she doesn't want to see this war continue beyond 90 days, for example, and she's worried about the costs. We also saw some lengthy statements issued by members of the Senate, including former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He said, while the president has a clear authority to use military force, that doesn't mean he can act alone, and the burden is on him to base those decisions on judicious national interests that are broadly supported by the American people. We also heard from Ohio Senator Todd Young. He said lawmakers need to ramp up their oversight and policymaking. And I've also heard concerns about casualties and the potential for Congress to approve more money to support this campaign in Iran.

DETROW: NPR's Claudia Grisales, thanks so much.

GRISALES: Thank you.

Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.