May 13 (UPI) — Three Republican senators joined most Senate Democrats on Wednesday in voting to advance a resolution directing President Donald Trump to remove U.S. forces from the Iran conflict, but the move failed by a vote of 49-50.
This was the seventh time since the start of the military conflict that a Democrat-sponsored resolution has sought to end hostilities unless Congress formally authorizes their continuation, CBS News reported. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; and Susan Collins, R-Maine, joined Democrats in voting to discharge the resolution from committee. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only Democrat to vote against it.
The 1973 War Powers Act gives the U.S. president 48 hours to notify Congress in writing if deploying U.S. forces without a congressional declaration of war. U.S. forces attacked Iran on Feb. 28, with Trump notifying Congress on March 2.
The act further gives the president 60 days to act unilaterally in the defense of the United States without a declaration of war from Congress. May 1 marked the end of that 60 days counted from March 2, but the administration and some congressional Republicans are arguing that the count stopped with the cease-fire reached on April 7.
Trump has also told congressional leaders in a letter that hostilities in Iran ended as of May 1, although peace talks have stalled. A U.S. blockade of Iranian ports continues, and Iran is still restricting ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Murkowski said she voted for the resolution this time because that 60-day deadline had passed without more clarity from the administration, CBS News reported.
“We’re in a different place than we were the last time we voted on this,” she said.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the cease-fire doesn’t mean hostilities are over, The Hill reported.
“Yesterday … Iran fired on assets in Kuwait, including some assets where there are some U.S. troops nearby,” he said. “And blockading the Iranian ports. If any nation was doing that to us, we would consider it an act of war. It is an act of war. There is a war that’s going on, just a cessation of the bombing campaign.”
Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Democrats are “obstructing” Trump’s attempt to defend the United States, The Hill reported.
“For decades, American presidents have pledged that Iran would not get a nuclear weapon,” he said. “Only President Trump has had the courage and the strength to keep his word.”
Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, dismissed the idea that the 60-day clock has run out, CBS News reported.
“The operations that began on Feb. 28 have been terminated,”he said. “The hostilities ended with the April 7 cease-fire. They’re over — full stop.”
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