Four Republican senators broke ranks with President Donald Trump and voted to limit his Iran war powers on Tuesday, according to CNN.
The “major rebuke” from lawmakers, including GOP leaders, has directed the Trump administration to begin removing military forces in Iran, CNN reported.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) all voted for the resolution. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) voted against it. The final vote tally was 50-48.
“The measure passed the House earlier this month. But because it is what’s known as a concurrent resolution, it does not require the president’s signature and, by definition, does not carry the force of law,” CNN reported.
A House Democratic aide involved in the effort to pass the war powers resolution told CNN earlier this month “that they believe the measure would be binding and it would be a legal matter to work out.”
“This is a major rebuke of President Trump,” CNN anchor Boris Sanchez said.
Republicans have had increasing concerns over Iran war negotiations, said CNN anchor and chief political correspondent Manu Raju.
“This is the first time that this has happened,” Raju explained. “The Senate and the House have passed an identical measure to limit President Trump’s powers with Iran, essentially to stop the war altogether, unless Congress has a say, and if the president wanted to escalate things in Iran, he’d have to come back to Congress to get approval.”
The White House has not yet responded to the vote.
“Democrats effectively pushed this bill through the House with the support of some Republicans,” Raju said. “And now we are seeing the same thing happening today on the Senate side. A sign of some concern within the GOP ranks over the way this war is being waged and a message being sent to the White House, now that both chambers of Congress are calling to limit the President’s war powers with Iran.”
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