Republicans in the U.S. Senate, who were berated by President Donald Trump over opposition to his war in Iran, held a late-night vote on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) to try to appease him, rejecting a War powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.
Mr. Trump harangued GOP Senators face to face earlier in the day for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran on Tuesday (June 23, 2026), further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt.
He exchanged particularly harsh words with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.
Hours later, though, Mr. Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice-President J.D. Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. He then returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate but nearly identical war powers resolution.
“I want to thank Vice-President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,” said Mr. Cassidy, who lost reelection last month after Trump endorsed his opponent, in a post on X.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has repeatedly voted with Democrats to halt the war, voted present this time “to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace,” he said on X. The measure failed 47-50-1 just before midnight on Wednesday (June 24, 2026), and the Senate then left town for a two-week recess.
Signal that Republican Senators still want to placate Trump
It’s unclear whether the move will be enough to appease Mr. Trump, who had called the Republicans “losers” for voting against his war and had called Sen. Bill Cassidy a “lunatic” at the lunch after their tense exchange. But the vote was a clear signal to the president from Republican senators who still want to placate him, despite increasing tensions in recent weeks and his decision Wednesday morning (June 24, 2026) to reverse himself and delay signing a housing bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and a small group of his Senate GOP colleagues called Mr. Trump after the vote. Thune told reporters that the president was “pleased with the outcome.”
Mr. Trump later thanked Mr. Thune in a social media post and noted that Mr. Cassidy and Mr. Paul had switched their votes. “This vote puts Iran on notice!” he wrote.
The War Powers measure blocked by the Senate on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) was on a separate track from the nearly identical resolution adopted on Tuesday (June 23, 2026), which had also been passed by the House.
Both votes were largely symbolic, and the measures do not carry the full force of law.
Trump-Cassidy exchange
Invited by Florida Sen. Rick Scott to speak at a GOP luncheon in the Capitol, Mr. Trump had signaled ahead of time that he would use the closed-door meeting to push senators to pass his proof-of-citizenship voting bill. But the conversation was more focused on Tuesday’s vote on war powers.
Most Republicans stayed quiet. But Mr. Cassidy stood up and defended his vote. “I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on,’” he told reporters after the meeting. “This was supposed to last four weeks, it’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.”
The two men “went back and forth,” Mr. Cassidy said, and he “matched his tone and volume.” Mr. Cassidy said that he eventually de-escalated, but he did not want to be bullied.
“I am voting for war powers until I get a briefing,” he said afterward.
Mr. Trump repeatedly told Mr. Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the private meeting who was not authorised to discuss it. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic.”
Publicly, Mr. Trump said afterward that they had “a really great meeting.” But he hinted at the discord. “We like everyone in the room,” he told reporters on his way out. “I don’t like a few people, but that’s OK.”
Housing bill ‘hostage’ for the voting bill
The luncheon capped weeks of friction between Mr. Trump and Senate Republicans and added a new layer of frustration as Tuesday’s vote was the first time the Senate had adopted a war powers resolution on the Iran war.
Mr. Trump made clear he was in no mood to compromise before it even started, calling off a scheduled signing ceremony on a housing bill that passed both chambers overwhelmingly this week and that GOP lawmakers were touting as an election-year achievement.
Republican senators were eager for a conciliatory meeting with the President after escalating tensions in recent weeks. But Mr. Trump upended their plans when he declared on social media just beforehand that he wouldn’t sign the legislation until they send him the SAVE America Act, his bill to require proof of citizenship for all voters.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he doesn’t know why Mr. Trump is holding the housing bill “hostage” for the voting bill that “will never pass in this Congress.” “It makes no sense to me,” he said as he walked into the luncheon.
Mr. Thune said the housing legislation, which aims to lower costs, is “an affordability issue,” and that ”eventually I hope he finds a way to sign it.”
It’s unclear if Mr. Trump might veto the legislation or if the late Wednesday night vote will change his outlook. But by rejecting a public bill signing, Republicans worry that Mr. Trump is indicating a level of indifference to voters’ affordability concerns heading into November’s midterm elections.
The President’s move on the housing bill is his latest reversal after weeks of being at odds with Senate Republicans.
Mr. Trump has blocked the Senate from confirming one of his own nominees, asked them to fund parts of his White House ballroom project despite opposition and forced them to defend the Iran war even as they question the strategy and endgame.
Mr. Trump has also helped whittle down his own support in the Senate after endorsing primary challengers to two GOP incumbents who were previously reliable votes for his agenda — Cassidy and Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Both men have become more critical of President since losing re-election.
“If we’re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page,” Mr. Cornyn said ahead of the meeting. “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.”
Trump has pressed Republicans for months to kill the Senate filibuster and focus on the proof-of-citizenship voting bill, even though Thune has repeatedly told him that neither has the votes.
While Thune remains popular in his conference and cordial with the president, he has spent much of his time lately telling Mr. Trump what he doesn’t want to hear. He said Tuesday (June 23) that while Mr. Trump and some in their conference want to see the voting bill pass, “it’s just not realistic.”
Mr. Thune devoted weeks of floor time to the voting bill earlier this year and has said he supports it. But he has repeatedly said there aren’t enough votes to scrap the filibuster that triggers a 60-vote threshold to pass most bills in the 53-47 Senate. And Democrats are uniformly opposed to the bill.
“I think people at some point have to come to grips with that,” he said.
