47 to 53

The Senate today rejected the War Powers Act resolution that sought to halt the war with Iran. The vote was 47 to 53. Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote in favour. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against. It is the eighth time Congress has tried to invoke the war powers law since last June. All have failed.

The resolution, co-sponsored by Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff, would have ordered the withdrawal of armed forces from hostilities against Iran not authorised by Congress. Schumer stood at the podium with a poster of Trump and asked whether senators stood with the American people or with the president and Pete Hegseth. Kaine argued no president has the right to send troops to war without legislative consent. On the other side, Bill Cassidy summarised the Republican position with admirable economy: "You can't be halfway pregnant. We're in there."

Lindsey Graham said he has never felt better about how this ends. Majority Leader John Thune argued Trump's actions are consistent with what previous administrations have done. Rubio, for his part, stated that no presidential administration has ever accepted the War Powers Act as constitutional, but that they are complying with the law "100%". An interesting position: the law is unconstitutional but we are following it.

The Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war. Since 1973, the War Powers Resolution requires the president to consult Congress before deploying troops into hostilities and caps unauthorised operations at 60 days. In practice, no president of either party has respected that limit, and no Congress has had the will to enforce it. Today's vote confirms the pattern. The House will vote on its own resolution later this week, but even if both chambers passed it, Trump would veto, and there are not two thirds to override. The war continues.