The Senate has agreed to vote by Friday, Nov. 20, on a House-passed resolution that would direct President Trump to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran, setting up the chamber’s first vote on the war since the midterm elections.
Under a unanimous consent agreement reached Monday and restated on the Senate’s Calendar of Business, the Foreign Relations Committee will be discharged from H. Con. Res. 93 at a time set by Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) “in concurrence with the Democratic Leader,” followed by six hours of debate, equally divided, and a vote on adoption. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) made the request on the floor, according to the Senate Press Gallery’s floor log.
The White House opposes the measure. In a Statement of Administration Policy issued when the House took it up in September, the Office of Management and Budget said the administration “strongly opposes” the resolution, which it said “attempts to legislate away essential Article II authority and would create immediate, material risks to U.S. forces, allies, and missions.” The statement said concurrent resolutions like this one “lack the force of law” and would in any case be unconstitutional legislative vetoes under the Supreme Court’s 1983 decision in I.N.S. v. Chadha.
“The President has the Constitutional authority to defend the United States and our citizens from the danger posed by the Iranian regime,” the statement said. “This requires the ability to act decisively to ensure it never obtains a nuclear weapon.”
What the resolution says
The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), invokes Section 5(c) of the 1973 War Powers Resolution. It would direct the president to remove U.S. forces “from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” except for forces needed to defend the United States or an ally or partner “from imminent attack,” unless Congress passes a declaration of war or a specific authorization for the use of military force against Iran.
The House adopted it 220-204 on Sept. 15, according to the House Clerk’s roll call. All 213 Democrats who voted supported it, joined by seven Republicans: Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa and Zach Nunn of Iowa. Two hundred and three Republicans and independent Rep. Kevin Kiley of California voted no.
Because it is a concurrent resolution, it would not go to the president for his signature and could not be vetoed. The War Powers Resolution allows Congress to direct a withdrawal that way, but “administrations of both parties have argued for decades that the process is unconstitutional and cannot bind the president,” CBS News reported.
The Senate’s earlier votes
The Senate rejected a similar Iran war powers measure 49-50 on Sept. 24, CBS reported. Four Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, voted with Democrats in favor, and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) voted against. Tillis, who is leaving the Senate, said he supported it because 60 days had passed since the administration notified Congress in July that military action against Iran had restarted, according to CBS.
In June, the same four Republicans joined Democrats to adopt a separate House-passed concurrent resolution, CBS reported, before key Republicans shifted their votes the next day after meeting with the president, and a related effort led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) fell short. Democrats have forced more than a dozen votes on the war since it began in late February, according to CBS.
The lame-duck Senate that will take up the resolution is the one elected in 2020, 2022 and 2024; the Democratic majority chosen this month takes office in January.
The president’s position
Trump has said the conflict is nearing its end on his terms. “We won. It’s just a question of when we end it,” he said at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, according to the White House pool report. “I want to make sure we have a total victory, not a 93 percent victory.” He said the same week that the conflict could end soon, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio told G7 partners in Paris that sanctions and the blockade make major combat unnecessary for now.
The administration’s September statement cited attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies on U.S. personnel and facilities in Syria and Iraq “more than 150 times since 2021,” and said that since the start of Operation Epic Fury, “Iran has targeted, killed, and harmed U.S. service members.”
Permitting bill next week
The Senate’s other big item is also headed for votes next week. Thune filed cloture on Wednesday on Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s substitute amendment to H.R. 2347, the vehicle for the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, and on the bill itself, according to the floor log. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), one of the bill’s four authors, said no more votes on it were expected until next week, when senators will take up amendments and final passage, Reuters reported. The Senate voted 73-25 on Nov. 9 to begin debate.
On Thursday, the Senate was scheduled to vote at 1 p.m. on cloture on the nomination of Gregory Carl Cook to be a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Alabama, with more votes expected, according to the floor log.
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