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.

The U.S. Senate for the first time approved a war powers resolution Tuesday (June 23, 2026) seeking to block U.S. military action against Iran, as lawmakers warily watch President Donald Trump’s efforts to resolve a conflict that the administration launched on its own and now needs Congress to fund.

It was the 10th time the Senate has tried to stop the war, and the outcome, on a vote of 50-48, was a stunning turnaround from past efforts. While the resolution is largely symbolic, and does not fully carry the force of law, it reflects the growing concerns from a number of Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate over both the war and the deal Trump struck with Iran to end it. The House approved the resolution earlier this month.

“Time after time, the vast majority of Senate Republicans sided with Mr. Trump and his war instead of the American people,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

Mr. Schumer said Americans have paid the price for “Trump’s historic blunder in Iran. It’ll go down in the history books as one of the worst foreign policy forays America has ever made.” In the past, as many as four GOP senators have voted for the war powers resolutions, and they did so Tuesday (June 23, 2026) — Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. One Democrat, Sen John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted against.

On this vote, the absence of two Republicans, including Sen Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was admitted to the hospital recently for an undisclosed matter, left the GOP without a full majority to halt the effort.

The vote also comes as the Pentagon is seeking $80 billion from Congress mostly for the Iran war as it backfills munitions and stockpiles.

Trump to meet senators as Republicans balk at Iran deal

Mr. Trump himself is headed to the Capitol this week to meet with GOP senators as Vice President JD Vance has been overseas working to negotiate with Iran to end that country’s nuclear ambitions, which had been among the stated rationales for the war.

The President is not pleased with the Republicans who have been critical of the deal he struck with Iran, according to one GOP senator granted anonymity to discuss the private dynamics.

The terms of the Iran deal are spelled out in a Memorandum of Understanding that Mr. Trump signed last week, starting a 60-day clock for the sides to reach a broader agreement over ending Iran’s nuclear programme.

But Republicans have particularly objected to the $300 billion fund to help Iran rebuild, which is far greater than the $1.7 billion then-President Barack Obama refunded the country under his administration’s 2015 Iran deal.

“I believe President Trump is getting very poor advice on Iran,” Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said last week on his podcast after the deal was made public.

Democrats have repeatedly forced Iran votes

Over and again, Democrats have been forcing votes on the Iran war, almost since the U.S. and Israel launched missile strikes on Iran on February 28.

Nearly each week they are in session, the Senate Democrats have put forward war powers resolutions, but they have failed to amass the majority needed for passage in the narrowly split chamber, where Mr. Trump’s Republican Party holds the majority.

The House pushed its own version to passage earlier this month, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in approving the war powers resolution, over the objections of House Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP leadership.

It is that House resolution that the Senate will consider Tuesday (June 23, 2026). While such resolutions do not go to the president for his signature or carry the force of law, passage would stand as a powerful, if symbolic, statement from Congress and a rebuke of the administration’s military actions.

“Why is this vote different?” asked Sen Tim Kaine, the Democrat from Virginia who has led his party’s efforts.

Mr. Kaine said the pause in fighting, as Mr. Trump’s team works to shore up a fragile ceasefire, provides the perfect time for Congress to step back and assess “what should the next chapter be.”

Hegseth seeks $80 billion from Congress for the Iran war

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is also on Capitol Hill this week, seeking roughly $80 billion in supplemental funding to shore up defense supplies in the aftermath of the Iran war, which is drawing scrutiny when many Americans are reeling from high gas prices and costs of living.

The Pentagon early on had estimated the war cost $11.3 billion during its first week, and experts have put the overall price tag at close to $100 billion.

The Defence Department’s funding request is part of a broader beef-up of military money the White House wants as part of its budget request this year.

The Trump administration is seeking $1.5 trillion in defence funding this year — a 50% increase — including $350 billion that it wants in a so-called budget reconciliation package. Johnson and GOP leaders are working to pass that package on their own, over the objections of Democrats, much the way they approved Mr. Trump’s big tax cuts bill last year.

The 2025 tax cuts package also included a sizable plus-up of about $175 billion for the military.

Published – June 24, 2026 04:01 am IST

Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Senate Republicans voted down an effort on Wednesday (March 4, 2026) to halt President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, demonstrating early support for a conflict that has rapidly spread across the West Asia with no clear U.S. exit strategy.

The legislation, known as a war powers resolution, failed on a 47-53 vote tally. The vote fell mostly along party lines, though Republican Sen Rand Paul of Kentucky voted in favour and Democratic Sen John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted against.

The war powers resolution gave lawmakers an opportunity to demand congressional approval before any further attacks are carried out. The vote forced them to take a stand on a war shaping the fate of U.S. military members, countless other lives and the future of the region.

Underscoring the gravity of the moment, Democratic senators filled the Senate chamber and sat at their desks as the voting got underway. Typically, senators step into the chamber to cast their vote, then leave.

“Today every senator — every single one — will pick a side,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said before the vote. “Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?” Sen John Barrasso, second in Senate Republican leadership, said during the debate that GOP senators would send a message that Democrats are wrong for forcing a vote on the war powers resolution.

“Democrats would rather obstruct Donald Trump than obliterate Iran’s national nuclear program,” he added.

Trump administration scrambles for congressional support

After launching a surprise attack against Iran on Saturday (February 28, 2026), Mr. Trump has scrambled to win support for a conflict that Americans of all political persuasions were already wary of entering. Trump administration officials have been a frequent presence on Capitol Hill this week as they try to reassure lawmakers that they have the situation under control.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the war could extend eight weeks, a longer time frame than has previously been floated by the Trump administration. He also acknowledged that Iran is still able to carry out missile attacks even as the U.S. tries to control the country’s airspace.

U.S. service members “remain in harm’s way, and we must be clear-eyed that the risk is still high,” Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same press conference.

Six U.S. military members were killed over the weekend in a drone strike in Kuwait.

Republican Sen Joni Ernst of Iowa acknowledged the human costs of the war in her floor speech. One of the soldiers killed Sunday was from Iowa, and a National Guard unit from her state was also attacked in Syria in December, resulting in the deaths of two other soldiers.

“But now is our opportunity to bring an end to the decades of chaos,” said Ms. Ernst, who herself served as an officer in the Iowa National Guard for two decades.

“The sooner the better,” she added.

Mr. Trump has also not ruled out deploying U.S. ground troops. He has said he is hoping to end the bombing campaign within a few weeks, but his goals for the war have shifted from regime change to stopping Iran from developing nuclear capabilities to crippling its navy and missile programs.

Lawmakers go on record

The votes in Congress this week represented potentially consequential markers of just where lawmakers stand on the war as they look ahead to midterm elections and the consequences of the conflict.

“Nobody gets to hide and give the president an easy pass or an end-run around the Constitution,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, the Virginia Democrat leading the war powers resolution. “Everybody’s got to declare whether they’re for this war or against it.” Republican leaders have successfully, though narrowly, defeated a series of war powers resolutions pertaining to several other conflicts that Mr. Trump has entered or threatened to enter. This one, however, was different.

Unlike Mr. Trump’s military campaigns against alleged drug boats or even Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the attack on Iran represents an open-ended conflict that is already ricocheting across the region.

Several senators who have voted for previous war powers resolutions noted that they opposed this one because it applied to a conflict that is already raging.

“Passing this resolution now would send the wrong message to Iran and to our troops,” said GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. “At this juncture, providing unequivocal support to our service members is critically important, as is ongoing consultation by the administration with Congress.” Still, Republicans who are used to operating in a political party dominated by Mr. Trump and his promises of keeping the U.S. out of foreign entanglements, the moment represented a bit of whiplash.

“War is ugly, it always has been ugly, but we’re taking out a regime that has been trying to attack us for quite some time,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican.

Published – March 05, 2026 04:56 am IST