President Donald Trump is facing his first political loss in the Iran war.
Votes in the House and Senate to end the military campaign this week could give Democrats a rare victory and signal growing unpopularity even among Republicans.
Rebellions within the president’s party — including two GOP congressmen who Trump helped defeat in the primaries in recent days — handed it to Democrats.previous victory on Tuesdayin the Senate and could have an even bigger victory Wednesday in the House.
After nearly three months at war with Iran, Trump may finally face a major setback in the conflict, albeit a political one in Washington rather than a military loss on the battlefield. Although largely symbolic, given the possibility of a presidential veto, the votes would be a huge embarrassment for the president.
“The story today is the growing momentum for Republicans to say, ‘You can’t do this war without us,'” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), one of the organizers of the measure.
Republican oppositionhas increasedas a rulehits past legal deadlinesto end the war and rising gas prices to erode the GOP’s favorability heading into the midterm elections.
A preliminary Senate vote will force the chamber to continue debating the measure. But the most consequential vote is looming in the House, which could be passed by a coalition of Democrats and a minority of Republicans.
Final vote tallies are still subject to change in a narrowly divided Congress and a high-stakes election year. Senate Republicans are expected to try to shelve the last-ditch effort since Democrats took advantage of the GOP’s absence Tuesday to advance the measure. And neither chamber has built enough support to override Trump’s veto, which is a near certainty if any legislation reaches his desk.
But Democrats say the sharp rise in support for war power limits — in eight votes in the Senate and three in the House — reflects public dissatisfaction with the war. A New York Times/Siena poll conducted between May 11 and May 15 found that 64 percent of Americans view the attack on Iran as the wrong decision, as opposed to 30 percent who support it.
“Each of our votes tends to get a little more support,” said Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich). “The vast majority of the American people do not support the war, so anyone who votes the other way is out of step with where the American people are.”
The Parliament’s vote on Wednesday comes after the lawyerslost a tie vote last weekdespite the support of three Republicans – Representatives Tom Barrett of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. That’s the largest GOP rebellion since the war began.
One Democratic representative, Representative Jared Golden of Maine, said he intends to support a “clean” war measure this week.
Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to crack the whip against the measure, but the final tally may ultimately come when lawmakers show up.
Massie, who has been one of the GOP’s staunchest critics of Trump,lost his re-election bid Tuesday to former Navy SEAL Ed Gallreinin a Kentucky elementary school. Gallrein ran with Trump’s endorsement, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethstuck for it this weekin an unusually partisan turn for the Pentagon chief.
In the Senate, four Republicans voted to control the war, including Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary last weekend at the hands of a Trump-backed challenger. Cassidy was the target of Trump’s ire after he voted to impeach Trump after he was removed from office following the Jan. 6 coup.
Critics took advantage of the GOP’s absencewinning the Senate’s preliminary vote on Tuesday. GOP leaders may push to set aside the war powers measure when they reach full attendance. But in another surprise move, one of the absent Republican senators whose vote will be needed is Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who suffered a major political blow Tuesday when Trump endorsed his primary opponent.
“If today’s environment is any reflection, I would say the situation was dire,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) about the Senate’s relationship with the president, and one of four Republican members to break ranks over Iran. “Maybe he doesn’t think he needs us. But I don’t know, the last time I checked, the laws just don’t show up in front of his desk to sign. Funding doesn’t.”
Senate Republicans who are largely pro-war rejected the latest vote.
“I don’t think you can read too much into it,” said Majority Leader John Thune (RS.D.), because of the senators’ absence. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the effort “a waste of time.”
But Senate leaders likely won’t take final action until after the holiday break, Kaine said. That gives Democratic lawmakers a week to announce their progress to voters and try to pressure their Republican colleagues to support the plan.
“They’re going to hear a lot from people when they get home about gas prices and the war,” Kaine said. “This is slowly leading to more members of the GOP being willing to say, ‘Hey, Mr. President, you shouldn’t be doing this without us.’
Jennifer Scholtes, Ali Bianco and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
