Politics

Four Republicans Joined Democrats to Rebuke Trump’s Iran War in a 50-48 Vote

By Mike Harper · June 24, 2026

The Senate has tried to stop the Iran war ten times. On the tenth attempt, it worked.

The Senate voted 50-48 Tuesday night to pass a war powers resolution directing the president to remove US forces from the conflict with Iran unless Congress formally authorizes further military action. Four Republicans crossed over to vote with Democrats: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, and Bill Cassidy. Democrat John Fetterman was the only member of his party to vote no.

The math that made it possible was as significant as the vote itself. Two Republican senators were absent — Mitch McConnell, still hospitalized for an undisclosed condition, and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania. Both have previously voted to block war powers resolutions. If either had been present and voted no, the measure would have failed 50-50. McConnell’s hospital bed may have been the deciding factor in the most consequential war powers vote in decades.

It is the first time a war powers resolution has passed both chambers of Congress. The House approved it earlier this month.

Trump responded on Truth Social Tuesday night, calling the four Republicans “losers” who “have just made my job more difficult”. He is heading to the Capitol Wednesday to meet with Republican senators — a visit that now carries the weight of a president confronting members of his own party who just voted to declare his war unauthorized.

The resolution is largely symbolic. It was introduced as a concurrent resolution, meaning it does not go to the president’s desk for signature or veto. It expresses the sentiment of both chambers but does not carry the full force of law. What it does carry is political weight — the clearest statement yet that Congress does not support the conflict.

The vote comes as the Pentagon seeks $80 billion in supplemental funding to replenish munitions and cover war costs, and as only 24% of Americans say the war was worth the cost according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday. The war has cost an estimated $100 billion. Gas reached $4.55 nationally before the ceasefire began bringing prices down.

Senator Tim Kaine, who led the Democratic effort, framed the timing deliberately.

“The pause in warfighting provides the perfect time for Congress to step back and assess what should the next chapter be.”

The next chapter is being written in Switzerland, where Vice President Vance departed Monday after the latest round of nuclear talks with Iran. Whether the 60-day MOU framework holds — and whether Congress eventually funds the $80 billion the Pentagon is requesting — will determine whether Tuesday’s vote was a symbolic gesture or the beginning of a genuine congressional reassertion of war powers.