In a “major bipartisan rebuke” of President Donald Trump’s illegal war against Iran, US Senate on Tuesday PASSED a war powers resolution directing Trump to withdraw US forces from Iran.
The votes were 50 to 48 against, with four The Republicans joining the overwhelming majority of Democrats to pass the resolution that was PASSED BY US House of representatives earlier this month.
“The House and Senate are both on their feet,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) has written on the holiday of voting for social media. “It is time to stop this deadly and costly conflict.”
Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Bill Cassidy (La.) voted in favor of the resolution while the Democratic Senate. John Fetterman (Pa.) voted against.
“The vote was 50 to 48, with four Republicans joining Democrats in saying that Trump should not be able to continue to drag America deeper into military conflict,” said attorney Aaron Parnas. has written on social media. “This is a great bipartisan rebuke of Trump’s foreign policy chaos.”
The anti-war group CodePink wrote: “The will of the people is undeniable: It’s time to end this war of aggression.”
The vote was lengthy, as the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pointed out it was the tenth attempt by Democrats to limit Trump’s ability to wage undeclared war since he unilaterally engaged the US in a joint attack on Iran with Israel, beginning on February 28.
Schumer criticized most Republicans for repeatedly failing to vote against the war, which he said would “go down in the history books as one of the worst foreign policy attacks America has ever made.” according to Associated Press.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) has written on social media: “Congress finally passes a war powers resolution to stop Trump’s illegal war on Iran. It’s been a disaster from the start. End it now.”
The vote made history by being the first time the House and Senate passed a simultaneous resolution calling for an end to a conflict since the War Powers Resolution of 1973. New York Times reported.
Concurrent resolutions do not require a presidential signature and therefore usually do not have the force of law. However, Democratic lawmakers and foreign policy the experts argue that because Congress has the ability to declare war under the Constitution, the resolution should still limit the president’s actions.
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), who sponsored the House resolution, has written:
“With the Senate’s passage of my Iran War Powers Resolution, both chambers have now made it clear that the president cannot continue this chosen war and must cease all hostilities against Iran. Regardless of what President Trump says, this action is mandatory under the War Powers Resolution, and I will explore all legal avenues to ensure that the executive branch complies with the will of Congress’s authority to never continue this war. indefinitely without our consent as required by the Constitution.”
The vote comes about a week after the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to move toward an end to the war that has killed at least 3,400 in Iran and thousands more across the region.
However, the ceasefire and subsequent negotiations have been rocky and unsafe due to constant Israeli attacks on Lebanon and threats from Trump.
