The US Senate on June 27 rejected a Democratic resolution that aimed to limit President Donald Trumpʼs ability to launch new military action against Iran without Congressional authorization.
This is reported by The Associated Press.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia proposed a resolution that would formally require President Donald Trump to seek congressional authorization before taking any new military action against Iran.
However, the Senate, where the Republican majority is, rejected the resolution by a vote of 53 to 47. One Democrat — John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — joined the Republicans and voted against it, while one Republican — Rand Paul of Kentucky — supported the resolution.
Most Republicans believe Iran posed an imminent threat and therefore supported Trumpʼs decision to strike three Iranian nuclear sites last weekend, even without congressional approval. For example, Republican Senator Bill Gaherty of Tennessee said that while military strategy can be debated, in a crisis situation, the presidentʼs actions cannot be limited when lives are at stake.
Democrats have questioned that reasoning, citing the War Powers Act, which was passed in the early 1970s. The law requires the president to consult with Congress “whenever possible” before deploying US troops.
They argue that the president should have consulted Congress first, and they add that Trump has not provided lawmakers with sufficient information, with the first briefings for them only being held on Thursday, after the strikes.
Ahead of the briefings on Monday, Trump sent a letter to Congress, as required by the War Powers Act, saying the strikes were limited in scope and aimed, in particular, at reducing casualties, deterring future attacks and preventing further escalation.
But after closed-door briefings with senior White House officials, some lawmakers remained skeptical about the real urgency of the threat. For example, Jim Himes, a Democrat and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said after a briefing on Friday that he had seen no evidence of an immediate threat to the United States. He said the Iranian threat was ongoing, but there was no indication that it was significantly greater last Saturday than it was “two weeks ago”.
Tim Kaine explained that his resolution is not aimed at limiting the presidentʼs right to defense, but when it comes to offensive action, you need to have political agreement and be sure that this is the right decision. After the vote failed, he said that he was disappointed because many of his colleagues did not dare to say that Congress should participate in the decision "regarding the beginning of war".
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, answering reportersʼ questions about whether he would strike Iranian nuclear facilities again if necessary, said "absolutely".
Whatʼs happening in the Middle East?
On the night of June 13, Israel attacked the center of Iranʼs nuclear, missile, and military infrastructure. After that, Iran declared that it would not participate in negotiations with the United States on its nuclear program, scheduled for June 15. On the evening of June 13, Iran responded by attacking Israel with ballistic missiles. The sides began to exchange blows.
On the night of June 22, the United States attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities in the cities of Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. American B-2 stealth bombers dropped six GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs on Iranʼs Fordow nuclear facility, two GBU-57 bombs on the Natanz nuclear facility, and a U.S. Navy submarine launched a salvo of 30 Tomahawk missiles, targeting the Natanz facility and another in Isfahan. Details of the operation can be found here.
Trump claimed that all three sites had been “totally and irreversibly destroyed”. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kaine, had previously said that the nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan had been “severely damaged”, but he stopped short of saying that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been “destroyed”.
And on June 23, Iran launched several missiles at American military bases in the Middle East.
On the night of June 24, the US President Donald Trump reported that Israel and Iran had agreed to a complete ceasefire. A few hours later, Israel confirmed the start of the ceasefire. Then it said that Tehran had violated it.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.