Senate rejects bill forcing end to Iran campaign

Bipartisan bill would have forced President Trump to seek explicit permission from Congress to continue Operation Epic Fury or end the conflict.

By World Israel News Staff

The United States Senate on Wednesday shot down a bill that would have effectively prevented the Trump administration from continuing Operation Epic Fury in Iran, voting down the measure in a largely party-line vote.

The upper chamber of Congress voted 53-47 against a bipartisan measure drafted jointly by Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, and Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul.

If passed, the law would have limited Trump’s powers to direct the military against Iran without a declaration of war or another explicit endorsement of the campaign by Congress.

Republicans, who control the Senate by a 53 to 47 margin, voted uniformly against the war powers act with the sole exception of Paul.

Forty-six of the 47 senators who caucus with the Democratic Party voted in favor of the bill, with Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman being the sole Democrat to vote against the proposed resolution.

Fetterman called the resolution a “symbolic or empty” measure that had little to no chance of passing in the two Republican-held chambers of Congress, adding that he decided to “follow country, not party.”

He also chided fellow Democrats for attempting to halt the strikes in Iran, arguing they are necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“Why can’t you just acknowledge: ‘Hey, that’s really happened now, they can’t acquire [nuclear weapons] anymore?’ Why can’t we just acknowledge that was a good thing?”

Fetterman lauded the elimination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dubbing him “one of the worst evil leaders…in the world.”

“Why can’t we celebrate that? Why can’t we acknowledge that is a good thing?”