Under pressure from Trump, Senate backtracks on Iran war powers vote

Trump berated the four opposed Republican senators on social media, accusing them of giving “aid and comfort” to “the enemy.”

By Andrew Bernard, JNS

Senators voted to reject a resolution requiring U.S. President Donald Trump to remove American military forces from the conflict with Iran on Wednesday, just one day after they approved a nearly identical measure from the House.

The reversal followed a meeting earlier on Wednesday between Trump and Senate Republicans in which the president reportedly hammered his own party for undermining his negotiating position with Iran.

At a lunch with Republican senators, Trump criticized the four members of his party who voted in favor of Tuesday’s resolution, with Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) describing the president as “mad as a murder hornet” over the vote,” Politico reported.

Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted with every Democrat except Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) to approve Tuesday’s resolution 50-48.

Trump also berated the four senators on social media, accusing them of giving “aid and comfort” to “the enemy,” using the same language as the constitutional provision defining treason.

Trump also reportedly criticized Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) for being absent for the vote.

McCormick was travelling with Trump to an event in Pennsylvania, and McConnell is in Kentucky recovering from a recent hospitalization.

The text of Wednesday’s Senate resolution, introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), is similar to the war powers measure that the senators approved on Tuesday.

But it came in the form of a binding joint resolution that Trump would have had to veto.

Tuesday’s vote was a non-binding concurrent resolution that does not proceed to the president for signature.

Cassidy, who has frequently clashed with Trump and recently lost his primary after Trump endorsed his opponent, reversed course on Wednesday’s late-night vote and rejected the resolution. Paul voted “present.”

McCormick returning to the Senate to vote was enough to defeat the measure 50-47. Collins and Murkowski were the only Republicans to vote in favor of the resolution.

Fetterman was once again the lone Democrat to oppose it.

Rejecting Kaine’s resolution does nothing to undo the House’s and Senate’s approval of Tuesday’s war powers resolution.

But Trump claimed on Wednesday that the Senate “changed its vote.”

“This vote puts Iran on notice,” Trump wrote.