The Senate is readying its latest vote on a war powers resolution in a bid to end the war in Iran that could highlight breaks between Republicans and President Donald Trump heading into the midterm elections.
But the White House is largely unfazed by the latest Democrat-led effort to peel off GOP detractors, even as some in the party grow increasingly outspoken about ending the conflict to address voters’ affordability concerns.
Senate Democrats could force a vote as early as this week on a resolution led by Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), a move that would come on the heels of the GOP-controlled House passing a measure last week with seven Republican defections. None of the Iran war powers resolutions since the start of the conflict in February have become law and are largely a symbolic rebuff to Trump.
The White House is discounting the latest round of votes, a senior official told the Washington Examiner on Monday, despite mounting pressure from Republicans to wind down operations that have spiked gas prices in particular.
Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers, a close Trump ally, broke publicly with the president Monday in a new campaign ad. He said the “war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly” to bring down the prices of gas and groceries. He also called for a temporary embargo on diesel fuel exports, a position more Republicans are taking as the national average for diesel soars above $6.50 per gallon.
The White House has been engaged in minimal lobbying for Senate Republicans to oppose the resolution, according to several lawmakers. Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told the Washington Examiner he plans to support the resolution, and other Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Rand Paul (R-KY), have previously voted for such measures. Democrats will likely need five Republicans to cross the aisle for the resolution to pass due to expected opposition from Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
“One of the ways you can sustain support, even with the concerns over war powers, is maximum engagement and updates” on the war’s progress, Tillis said. “I don’t think [War Secretary Pete Hegseth] has done a particularly good job.”
White House officials contend Trump has the constitutional authority under the 1973 War Powers Resolution to oversee the nation’s foreign policy and that Article 2 of the Constitution does not require congressional approval for the war.
IRAN WAR POWERS RESOLUTION PASSES HOUSE WITH SEVEN REPUBLICAN DEFECTIONS
“They have sort of perverted this into a method to delay or obstruct the Republican agenda, while at the very same time having confirmed Congress’s perspective on these war operations more times than any Congress in history,” a senior White House official previously told the Washington Examiner. “The Democratic gadfly strategy on these, which they’ve been relatively explicit about, has overwhelmingly backfired and led to more congressional support for President Trump’s efforts to safeguard American troops and interests abroad, rather than less.”
Past presidents have also ordered military action without first seeking congressional approval, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. In 2011, Obama launched airstrikes against targets in Libya without asking Congress, and Biden similarly struck Houthi rebels in Yemen in early 2024.