Senate Republicans block war powers resolution as Iran peace deal nears
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Senate Republicans narrowly stopped a new attempt to handcuff President Donald Trump’s war authority in Iran as a peace deal begins to take shape.
The latest failed war powers resolution, this time from Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., comes after Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian government that could lead to an end to the war. Republicans still stood behind the president on Tuesday, even though Congress was still in the dark about the details of the deal.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who has led Democrats’ war powers efforts over the past few months, argued that a potential deal is a good thing, but that the U.S. and Iran appear headed for a “hiatus” in conflict while both sides hammer out the final details of a longer peace deal.
WHILE CONGRESS REMAINED IN DARK, TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL WIN GOP CLAIM FOR VOTE
President Donald Trump makes remarks during a bilateral meeting with the president of the United Arab Emirates at the G7 summit in Evian, France, June 16, 2026. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
“The recess is a great time to do what we should have done before this war, which is to consult with Congress as required by the Constitution,” Kaine said. “If we haven’t done our job, why start the war again?”
Still, Warnock’s resolution failed despite efforts advancing in the Senate last month, when a group of Senate Republicans joined nearly all Senate Democrats in condemning the war. The same group, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Bill Cassidy, R-La., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., joined all Democrats in voting for the resolution.
But absences on both sides of the aisle helped GOP efforts to give Trump more room to strike a deal to end the war.
TRUMP’S $350 BILLION ‘FREEDOM FRONT’ STUDY HIT GOP SKepticism
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman James Risch, R-Idaho, argued that Democrats were effectively trying to “help Iran” with war power efforts and countered that Iran would withdraw from any upcoming peace deal if the resolution passed.
“If a miracle happens, if a miracle happens and it passes, if it passes the Senate, if it passes the House and the president signs it, do you think Iran will sign the negotiated agreement? Of course not,” Risch said. he said.
DEMS WINS AS GOP SENATOR HELPED PROGRESS THE IRAN WAR FORCE SOLUTION
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) meets with Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., at the U.S. Capitol on June 2, 2026. and You. Shelley Moore Capito speaks at a Senate Republicans press conference, accompanied by RW. Va. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc.)
Meanwhile, Congress is still awaiting details of the agreement, which as of Tuesday had not yet been made public or behind closed doors in the upper house.
Senate Majority Leader RS.D. John Thune said he still hasn’t been informed about the issue. Asked if it was normal for Thune and others to request such briefings from management, Thune said, “We haven’t had this problem since I’ve been on this job so I don’t know the answer to that.”
“My assumption is that it’s a function of them understanding that they’re going to have to do this at some point; I think they also implied that they had to put it in front of us,” he said. “And hopefully that will happen eventually. But, you know, it looks like they’re not going to make it public until the end of the week, so we’ll see.”
On the other hand, some Democrats claim that initial reports on the deal favor Iran more than the US
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
“This is essentially a capitulation,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
“But I think that’s the only move we can make at this point. We’ve got to end this war, we’ve got to stop wasting money, we’ve got to stop killing Americans and civilians, we’ve got to stop creating crises,” Murphy said. “So it’s a bad deal, but he won’t get a better deal. So we have to accept the humiliation.”
