Senate rejects Iran war resolution 49-50 as fuel costs and midterm fears mount

The Senate on Sept. 24 voted down, 49-50, a resolution that would have ordered President Donald Trump to bring the U.S. war with Iran to a close, giving Republicans a narrow reprieve from a politically damaging display of internal division — even as diesel prices topped $6.50 a gallon and polls showed nearly two-thirds of voters believe the conflict was not worth it.

The war powers resolution, which had already cleared the House in July by a vote of 214-208, was largely symbolic: as a concurrent resolution it would not have gone to Trump's desk for a signature or veto. But with midterm elections six weeks away, every vote was a political statement. Four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — crossed the aisle to support it. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to vote no.

Congress has the constitutional power to declare war, not the president. So that's the reason it doesn't go to the White House, because the White House can't veto the Constitution.— Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

Kaine, the architect of Democrats' strategy to force Republicans on record over the war, framed the vote as more than messaging. He appealed directly to the human toll of the conflict, which has killed 19 U.S. service members since hostilities began in February, according to NBC News.

If you don't want to listen to us, how about listen to the American public who's suffering? Listen to the 18 families who've lost loved ones. Listen to the hundreds of troops who've been injured.— Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

The resolution stated that Congress directs the president to withdraw U.S. military personnel from combat operations against Iran, its government, or its armed forces — including any potential ground troops in a fighting role — unless Congress has explicitly authorized such action through a formal declaration of war or a specific use-of-force authorization.

Among the most vulnerable Republican incumbents facing voters in November — Sens. Jon Husted of Ohio, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, and Dan Sullivan of Alaska — all voted against the resolution. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who lost his primary bid for reelection and is soon to leave Congress, also voted no, despite having previously signaled support for ending the war. According to USA Today, Cassidy indicated earlier this year that closed-door briefings with Trump administration officials had put to rest some of his most pressing concerns.

Tillis, who is retiring this year, voted to support ending the war for the first time. Collins had previously joined efforts to end the conflict. Several Republicans said publicly they would like to see the war end quickly but are not yet willing to vote to constrain Trump's power to wage it.

The economic pressure driving that political anxiety is concrete. According to NBC News, Iran has transformed the Strait of Hormuz into an active war zone in response to U.S. military strikes that began in February, pushing prices for gasoline, diesel, fertilizer, and food sharply upward. According to TTNews, U.S. retail diesel prices have for the first time exceeded $6.50 a gallon, dealing a heavy blow to farmers across the Grain Belt ahead of harvest and to truckers throughout the country.

Only 33% of registered voters consider the Iran war to have been worth fighting, while 62% say it was not, according to a recent NBC News poll. By a margin of 57% to 24%, voters said they are more likely to support a candidate who opposes the war — numbers that have begun to move even previously loyal Republican candidates. GOP Senate candidates Mike Rogers in Michigan and Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa have recently called for ending the war after months of backing Trump on it, according to NBC News.

In the House, two vulnerable Iowa Republicans — Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks — voted for the first time to end the war when a similar measure passed earlier in September, according to TTNews, another marker of eroding GOP support.

The Senate vote coincided with a flurry of diplomatic activity at the United Nations in New York. Earlier in the week, Trump told world leaders he would 'annihilate' Iran should it refuse to reach a deal. Following his speech, U.S. and Iranian negotiators exchanged messages through intermediaries — the first contact between the two sides in months, according to USA Today. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defending the strikes in his own U.N. speech on the day of the Senate vote, said the decision to strike Iran was made 'not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilization.' Addressing the General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared that his country would not yield.

The resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying. We will never bow our head or bend at the knee.— Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian

With the Senate vote now behind them, many Democratic senators are expected to leave Washington next week to campaign, hoping to capitalize on the war's unpopularity to make gains in November. The resolution's failure, while a short-term reprieve for Republican unity, leaves the party's most endangered members to face voters in six weeks with fuel prices still elevated and public opposition to the war running at nearly two-to-one.

He's trying to turn us into a global bully. And we're letting him do it.— Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

Why it matters — With midterms six weeks away and fuel prices at record highs, the vote is the last congressional test of whether the Iran war's unpopularity can shift the balance of power in Washington — and the answer, for now, is barely not.

Reported by ttnews.com, reuters.com, wsj.com, bloomberg.com, nbcnews.com, alaskabeacon.com, timesunion.com, usatoday.com