The U.S. Senate dramatically reversed itself Wednesday night on an Iran war powers resolution, one day after handing President Donald Trump a stinging bipartisan rebuke, as two Republican senators changed their votes following direct White House intervention.
The late-night vote came after Trump expressed frustration with Senate Republicans who had supported a war powers resolution on Iran the previous day, arguing that Congress had undermined his position at the negotiating table.
The final tally was 47-50-1, with Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski again voting for the resolution, and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman again voting against it.
Trump celebrated on Truth Social: "Wow! The Senate just changed its vote on Iran from 50-48 against, to 50-47 for. Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy changed. Thank you to Leader John Thune, Lindsey Graham, Bernie Moreno, and all. This vote puts Iran on notice!"
What Changed
On Tuesday, the Senate had adopted the resolution directing the president to remove military forces from the conflict with Iran by a 50-48 vote, with Republican Sens. Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Bill Cassidy joining Democrats, while Democratic Sen. John Fetterman voted against it.
By Wednesday night, Paul voted present and Cassidy voted against advancing the resolution.
The reversals came after heavy pressure from the administration. Cassidy told reporters he had received a "thorough briefing" from Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff on Iran, and thanked them for a quick invitation to the White House to address his concerns. Paul, meanwhile, acknowledged his underlying position had not changed. He wrote on X that his opinion on the war powers debate was unchanged, but that Trump had asked him to give consideration to his negotiating position, and that since hostilities appeared to be over, he would do so.
The road to Wednesday's vote was turbulent. Cassidy recounted a testy exchange with Trump during a Senate GOP lunch, saying he had tried to ask the president about the war's unmet objectives, only to be interrupted. "I didn't care to be interrupted," Cassidy said. "I felt like I was trying to get answers for the American people, and I'm not going to be bullied." CNN reported that Trump called Cassidy a "lunatic" during the exchange, a characterization Cassidy did not deny to reporters.
Thune, Barrasso, Graham, and Moreno huddled in the GOP leader's office as the vote wound down to call Trump and share the news.
Backdrop
The war against Iran has been broadly unpopular domestically. A Reuters-Ipsos poll released Tuesday found that only 24 percent of Americans felt the war had been worth the cost, with prices for oil, natural gas, and fertilizer spiking since the conflict began.
The resolution, introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, invokes Congress's constitutional authority to declare war, though successive presidents have increasingly sidelined that power over the past 75 years. Trump has pointed to that precedent to argue he needs no congressional authorization. The measure is not legally binding and cannot be sent to the White House for signature.
Tuesday's vote marked the tenth time the Senate had taken up a war powers resolution to rein in Trump's military campaign against Iran. Wednesday's reversal gives the White House a procedural win heading into the congressional recess, though the underlying divisions within the Republican Party over the Iran war remain unresolved.
