Senate walks back rebuke of Trump over Iran war

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Politics

Updated Jun 25, 2026, 12:25 AM ET
PUBLISHED Jun 24, 2026, 11:13 PM ET


One day after adopting a resolution aimed at removing US military forces from the conflict with Iran, the Senate walked back its rebuke of President Donald Trump’s handling of the war, rejecting an attempt to advance a similar war powers measure.

Wednesday’s late-night vote came after Trump expressed frustration with Senate Republicans who voted for an Iran war powers resolution on Tuesday, as well as Republicans who missed that vote, arguing that Congress had undermined his position at the negotiating table with Iran.

GOP Sens. Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy, who had previously voted to rein in the president’s war powers on Iran, changed their votes; Paul voted present and Cassidy voted against advancing the resolution. GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski once again voted for the resolution, while Democratic Sen. John Fetterman again voted against it. The final tally was 47-50-1.

Trump welcomed the vote on Truth Social, noting Paul’s and Cassidy’s shifts and writing, “This vote puts Iran on notice!” Earlier Wednesday at a tense Senate GOP lunch with Trump, Cassidy went toe-to-toe with the president on Iran, telling him he would continue voting for war powers measures until Congress and the American people are given more information on the conflict.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/24/politics/senate-walks-back-iran-war-powers-vote

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REFERENCES

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143683490
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143683791
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143684275

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. There you have it folks

The GOP has no spine.

[vanlassie]

2. Did you hear Cassidy speaking without cameras

-only sound -when approached by reporters after his toe to toe with Trump at their luncheon? He sounded pretty shaken up. Unreal.

[Vogon_Glory]

3. Brave, Brave Sir Robin Ran Away, Ran Away. N/t

[wolfie001]

9. ......

Perfecto!!!

[Walleye]

4. Republican men are a bunch of little weenies.

[Chasstev365]

5. Come on Democrats: Crucify the GOP over this!

Be brutally honest with the fact that Republicans suck up to everything Trump wants!

[Bristlecone]

6. Profiles in Cowardice

Absolutely pathetic.

[Maeve]

7. Just when you start to think evolution is more than a theory....

[wolfie001]

8. chickenshit christo-fascists

Hitler's generals were of the same stripe. Spineless weasels.

[KS Toronado]

10. Gropenfuhrer threatens and bullies people and they fold.

Absolutely no backbone or clear perception of right & wrong.

[PatSeg]

13. It is bizarre

What kinds of threats does he make that brings most, if not all, of them to their knees over and over again? Or does he have them all conditioned to cower to his bullying?

This is a man who could easily usher in World War III and these cowards know that. Yet they cave every time, even the ones who are leaving congress.

[KS Toronado]

18. Thinking it's the knowledge he will do everything he can to ruin people financially,

those who won't kiss his ass or become loyal subjects to the emperor.

[PatSeg]

23. It is still mindboggling though

Unless Trump has some very incriminating videos and photos of them with young boys or girls, why cave so easily and so often? What a pathetic legacy they are leaving behind.

[MissouriDem47]

11. Cowards!

[niyad]

12. Senate PUKES walked back..

[LoisB]

24. They couldn't have. One needs a spine in order to walk. More like they crawled or

slithered.

[niyad]

25. True!!!

[Ray Bruns]

14. Speaking of death warmed over, anyone heard anything about Mitch McConnell's condition lately?

[William Seger]

15. #rump's "position at the negotiating table" is called "over a barrel"

Resolution or no, Iran knows he is months away from being a very unpopular lame duck.

[Wonder Why]

16. When half our representatives in the Senate do not have the guts to stand up for the country even after all the

lunacy he has accomplished, Democracy is lost.

Even if and when the Democrats take control, there is no way to remove the stain. It will haunt us forever because it can always come back.

[WestMichRad]

17. Mob boss bullies his underlings into compliance.

[travelingthrulife]

19. They are all war criminals then.

[SamuelAdams]

20. Do they think this sends a message of toughness?

Children last longer running away from home than this. All this shows is what a joke the GOP is.

[KPN]

21. OFFS! The Republican Party is just one big cluster@&*%*! The universe will be better without them.

And that day will come.

[the_liberal_grandpa]

22. Cowards

Afraid of a dottering fool.

[Wiz Imp]

26. This is being reported in very misleading manner.

Steve Benen describes it the best of anyone I've seen.
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/under-pressure-trump-war-powers-republicans-senate

Under pressure from Trump on war powers, Republicans fold and try to appease White House
Some GOP lawmakers were willing to show a little independence when the stakes were low, but they lost their nerve when it really mattered.
On Tuesday, Congress did something it had never done before: It approved a war powers resolution that rebuked Donald Trump and called on the president to end the war in Iran. It was a largely symbolic move — the measure had no formal force of law — but as Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, noted in a statement, “This marks the first time since the enactment of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 that both chambers of Congress have approved a concurrent resolution directing a sitting president to end a military conflict.”

Hours after Senate Republicans heard from the president, they took fresh steps to try to appease him. MS NOW’s Jack Fitzpatrick reported:

A procedural vote on an Iran war powers resolution failed at about 11 p.m. on Wednesday, as two Republicans changed their position after yesterday’s confrontation with Trump.

The vote was 50-47, with one member, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voting present. Paul has voted for every war powers resolution since the Iran war began. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., voted against the motion along with most other Republicans. Those two members had supported the House-approved concurrent resolution that the Senate adopted on Tuesday.

GOP leaders specifically held the vote, knowing it would fail, in order to make Trump feel better.

With this in mind, shortly before midnight, the president published a new item on his platform, celebrating the move. “Wow!” he wrote. “The Senate just changed its vote on Iran from 50-48 against, to 50-47 for. … This vote puts Iran on notice!” That wasn’t quite right. The Senate didn’t change its vote, so much as it held two separate votes on related but distinct resolutions.

The measure on Tuesday afternoon, which has not been negated or undone, was historically significant, but it lacked any real practical meaning. The resolution simply expressed the sentiment of Congress. It didn’t even advance to the White House for a presidential signature or veto.

The only reason the Republicns voted for the first resolution is because it was effectively meaningless. It accomplishes nothing. The second resolution would have explicitly directed Trump to “remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran” unless authorized by Congress. Republicans were never going to vote for that.