WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� For , the Senate will vote on a war powers resolution to block as lawmakers warily watch efforts to resolve a conflict that the administration launched on its own and now needs
The outcome Tuesday is not expected to be much different from the previous Senate efforts, which have all failed. But a in both the House and Senate have over both the war and the with Iran to end it. Democrats are daring the Republicans to join them in standing up to the Trump administration.
鈥淲hy is this vote different?鈥� asked Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democrat from Virginia who has led his party’s efforts.
Kaine said the pause in fighting, as Trump’s team works to , provides the perfect time for Congress to step back and assess 鈥渨hat should the next chapter be.鈥�
The vote also comes as the Pentagon is mostly for the Iran war as it backfills munitions and stockpiles.
Trump to meet senators as Republicans balk at Iran deal
Trump himself is headed to the Capitol this week to meet with GOP senators as has been overseas working to negotiate with Iran to end that country’s 鈥� which had been among the stated rationales for the war.
The president is not pleased with the he struck with Iran, according to one GOP senator granted anonymity to discuss the private dynamics.
The terms of the Iran deal are spelled out in a that Trump signed last week, starting a 60-day clock for the sides to reach a broader agreement over ending Iran’s nuclear program.
But Republicans have particularly objected to the $300 billion fund to help Iran rebuild, which is far greater than the $1.7 billion then-President Barack Obama refunded the country under .
“I believe President Trump is getting very poor advice on Iran,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said last week on his podcast after the deal was made public.
Democrats have repeatedly forced Iran votes
Over and again, Democrats have been forcing votes on the Iran war, almost since the U.S. and Israel launched missile strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
Nearly each week they’re in session, the Senate Democrats have put forward war powers resolutions, but they have failed to amass the majority needed for passage in the narrowly split chamber, where Trump鈥檚 Republican Party holds the majority.
The earlier this month, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in approving the war powers resolution, over the objections of and the GOP leadership.
It鈥檚 that House resolution that the Senate will consider Tuesday. While such resolutions do not go to the president for his signature or carry the force of law, passage would stand as a powerful, if symbolic, statement from Congress and a rebuke of the administration鈥檚 military actions.
In the past, as many as four GOP senators have voted for the war powers resolutions 鈥� Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and . One Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, has typically voted against.
Hegseth seeks $80 billion from Congress for the Iran war
is also on Capitol Hill this week, seeking roughly $80 billion in supplemental funding to shore up defense supplies in the aftermath of the Iran war, which is drawing scrutiny when many Americans are reeling from .
The Pentagon early on had estimated the war cost $11.3 billion during its first week, and experts have put the overall price tag at close to $100 billion.
The Defense Department’s funding request is part of a broader beef-up of military money the White House wants as part of its budget request this year.
The Trump administration is seeking this year 鈥� a 50% increase 鈥� including $350 billion that it wants in a so-called budget reconciliation package. Johnson and GOP leaders are working to pass that package on their own, over the objections of Democrats, much the way they approved Trump’s big tax cuts bill last year.
The 2025 also included a sizable plus-up of about $175 billion for the military.
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