Senate fails to advance Iran war powers resolution
The procedural vote came after the U.S. strikes on Iran.
March 4, 2026, 3:27 PM
The Senate on Wednesday rejected a Democratic-led Iran war powers resolution that called for congressional approval for military action against Iran.
The procedural vote, which directed the removal of United States armed forces from hostilities within or against Iran that have not been authorized by Congress, failed by a vote of 47 to 53.
Sen. Rand Paul, who co-sponsored the resolution, was the only Republican to cast a vote in favor of it. Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against it.
This resolution will not go forward in the Senate, though Democrats have left open the possibility of filling another Iran war powers resolution in the future.
It comes after recent U.S. strikes on Iran that killed several Iranian leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran.
Democrats who forced the vote said Wednesday afternoon's vote was important to get lawmakers on the record about the president's authority to take military action in Iran.
"Today every senator, every single one, will pick a side: Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted of forever wars in the Middle East? Or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?" Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday morning.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who co-sponsored the bill, said acts of war need congressional approval.
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"We can't afford to hide under a desk and let any president, Democrat or Republican, send our best and brightest, our own kids, into war to risk their lives unless we have debated it, we have determine it is in the national interest, we have voted and thereby put our signature and our thumb print on the notion that it's worth sending our best and brightest to risk their lives," Kaine said.
A number of Republican senators supported the Trump administration's actions in Iran and bashed the resolution.
Republican Whip John Barrasso said Wednesday that the resolution would do nothing by "tie" President Donald Trump's hands in Iran.
"Democrats would rather obstruct President Trump than obliterate Iran's national nuclear program. Let that sink in. That's what the Democrats are trying to do. They want to use the war powers act as a partisan battering ram," Barrasso said. "They are coming to the Senate floor today to try to tie President Trump's hands in a situation in Iran that is making America safer and making the world safer and the Democrats are undermining our security at home."
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Earlier this year, a similar resolution concerning military action in Venezuela passed an initial procedural test vote when a small handful of Republican senators voted with Democrats to move it forward. Some of those Republicans were ultimately swayed to revoke their support for that legislation during a vote on final passage, and the bill was ultimately defeated by Vice President JD Vance's tie-breaking vote.
The House is set to vote on its own war powers resolution later this week. The non-binding measure, introduced by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna and GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, would not be subject to the president's signature or veto if it passed both houses of Congress.
On Wednesday, Johnson expressed confidence that Republicans will defeat the House's war powers resolution, despite some reservations expressed by a handful of conservatives. Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the House, so it would only take a few defections for the bill to pass.
“I think passage of a war powers resolution right now would be a terrible, dangerous idea,” Johnson warned. “It would empower our enemies. It would kneecap our own forces, and it would take the ability of the U.S. military and the commander in chief away from completing this critical mission to keep everybody safe."
ABC News' John Parkinson and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
