Republicans’ support for President Donald Trump’s war on Iran fractured on Wednesday.
Senate Democrats have tried to splinter off Republicans from their near-unified backing of Operation Epic Fury for months with a campaign of attrition, putting war powers resolution after war powers resolution on the floor ever since fighting began.
And after two months of trying, they finally got some in the GOP to flip on Trump with Sen. Jeff Merkley’s, D-Ore., latest attempt. Still, it wasn’t enough to terminate ongoing operations in the Middle East.
GOP HOLDS WITH TRUMP ON IRAN WAR, BUT CRACKS EMERGE AS DEADLINE NEARS
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has consistently voted to handcuff Trump’s war powers, all joined Democrats to end Operation Epic Fury.
It comes after Congress blew past the 60-day deadline to weigh in on fighting in the region, and hours after Trump touched down in China.
Top Trump administration officials, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, argued that the 60-day deadline was moot because fighting was paused under a ceasefire.
However, Trump, after rejecting the latest proposal from Iran, said on Tuesday that the fragile truce is on “life support.”
CONGRESS IGNORES KEY DEADLINE AS REPUBLICANS READY ‘RESTRAINT’ ON TRUMP’S WAR IN IRAN
“I would call it the weakest, right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us — I didn’t even finish reading it,” Trump told reporters.
“I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, ‘Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living,'” he said.
Whether Trump’s trip overseas and the deadline now in the rearview mirror would have an impact on Wednesday remained an open question heading into the vote.
SENATE GOP MOVES TO BLOCK DEMS’ WAR POWERS PUSH, PRESERVE TRUMP’S AUTHORITY IN RARE MOVE
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., noted that Trump’s trip to China would likely have national security implications, and said that it “would be best if everybody hung together and supported the president.”
“People have their own minds about some of these issues, and this is not a new vote, it’s one we’ve had many times before, but you know, we’ll see what votes are,” Thune said.
Congress has the option of voting on an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) that would either authorize or halt any further fighting in Iran. Some Republicans argue that the move would give Trump a strong legal tool in making the case for the war.
Murkowski warned earlier this month that unless there were signs that a peace deal was nearing completion or further communication from the administration on their objectives, she would bring an AUMF to the floor.
During a hearing with Hegseth on Tuesday to pick through the president’s staggering, $1.5 trillion budget request for the Pentagon, Murkowski asked Hegseth if he believed it would “be helpful to the president if it was made clear that, in fact, the Congress did allow, did provide an AUMF” should fighting restart.
“I think the president — our view is that he has all the authorities he needs under Article II to execute,” Hegseth said.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who started the war powers effort, contended that if an AUMF were put on the floor, and it passed, it would make an “illegal and unwise war, just an unwise war, not an illegal one.”
“But I see almost no circumstance in which Republicans would want to have a vote on that in committee or on the floor,” Kaine told Fox News Digital. “They are actively trying to avoid accountability for the war.”
Senate Democrats finally crack GOP unity on Trump’s Iran war as Murkowski flips 2026 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2026-05-13 17:28:19 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
