Senate Republicans reject Iran war powers measure after Trump pressure

Late-night vote came hours after US president berated GOP senators over opposition to the conflict

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Senate Republicans rejected a war powers resolution in a late-night vote, hours after they were berated by Donald Trump over opposition to his controversial war on Iran.

The US president was said to have harangued GOP senators during a lunch on Capitol Hill earlier on Wednesday. The previous day, they had angered the White House by allowing a vote to block Trump’s war in Iran.

Trump got into a particularly heated argument with Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana senator and one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure, and who placed third in Louisiana’s Senate primary last month after Trump urged voters to back a rival candidate.

Speaking to reporters following the tense luncheon, Cassidy said his argument with Trump began after the president asked: “Why would anybody vote for the War Powers Act?”

“Is that a rhetorical question, or would you like to really know?” Cassidy said he replied.

Hours later, though, Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House from JD Vance and Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate, but nearly identical, war powers resolution.

“I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,” said Cassidy, who lost re-election last month after Trump endorsed his opponent, in a post on X.

Kentucky senator Rand Paul, a Republican who has repeatedly voted with Democrats to halt the war, voted present this time “to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace”, he said on X. The measure failed 47-50-1 just before midnight on Wednesday, and the Senate then left town for a two-week recess.

It’s unclear whether the move will be enough to appease Trump, who had called the Republicans “losers” for voting against his war and had called Cassidy a “lunatic” at the lunch after their tense exchange.

But the vote was a clear signal to the president from Republican senators who still want to placate him, despite increasing tensions in recent weeks and his decision Wednesday morning to reverse himself and delay signing a housing bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support.

Senate majority leader, John Thune, and a small group of his Senate GOP colleagues called Trump after the vote. Thune told reporters that the president was “pleased with the outcome”.

Trump later thanked Thune in a social media post and noted that Cassidy and Paul had switched their votes. “This vote puts Iran on notice!” he wrote.

The war powers measure blocked by the Senate on Wednesday was on a separate track from the nearly identical resolution adopted on Tuesday, which had also been passed by the House. Both votes were largely symbolic, and the measures do not carry the full force of law.