President Donald Trump lashed out at the four Republican senators who voted to block him from resuming the war with Iran, in a resolution that marks one of the biggest schisms between the Republican-controlled Senate and the White House during Trump’s second term.
“These Senators have just made my job more difficult, but I will get it done, one way or the other,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday night, accusing the “four Republican Losers” of helping Iran when he had the country “on the ‘ropes,’ ready to go down for the fall.”
Another two Republicans, Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) and Dave McCormick (Pennsylvania), missed the vote, which passed 50-48. Democrat Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted against it.
The measure, which passed the House this month, is based on the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and is designed to ensure congressional oversight of U.S. involvement in military conflicts.
Democrats and Republicans disagree over whether it can be legally enforced. The White House has argued that the law is unconstitutional and also is irrelevant because the war has ended.
Here’s a look at the four Republicans who broke with Trump and why:
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)
Collins started voting with Democrats when it became clear Trump would push past the war powers resolution’s 60-day deadline for presidents to remove U.S. forces from hostilities if Congress has not authorized them.
In late April, she said further military action against Iran must have a clear mission and defined strategy to end the conflict.
“The President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief is not without limits,” she said in a statement at the time.
“The Constitution gives Congress an essential role in decisions of war and peace, and the War Powers Act establishes a clear 60-day deadline for Congress to either authorize or end U.S. involvement in foreign hostilities. That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement.”
Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana)
The two-term senator has previously clashed with Trump and is one of seven Republicans who voted to convict him in his 2021 impeachment trial. In May, he failed to make a runoff after voters in his state heeded Trump’s call to oust him.
Though Cassidy said he has been supportive of efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, he has said Congress has been left “in the dark” and cited concerns from his constituents about U.S. involvement in the war.
He moved to vote with Democrats after losing his primary and is among the senators who have sharply criticized last week’s ceasefire deal with Iran.
“Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” Cassidy said in a statement last week, saying Iran’s nuclear ambitions remain intact and it had realized its leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. “This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades,” he said.
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
Murkowski initially voted against resolutions to block strikes against Iran but flipped to vote with Democrats as the 60-day deadline passed. At the time, she argued that there should be congressional oversight and that the U.S. blockade and continued clashes in the region undermined White House claims the war had ended.
“If U.S. forces are still required to operate in the region or hostilities are resumed, the administration is obligated to seek authorization from Congress and should come before this body, and the American people, making that case,” she said last month when first voting to block further strikes.
“Until then, I will support measures to officially end hostilities and bring our men and women home.”
She has also been attuned to the economic impacts of the war in Alaska, where she said many communities face already high energy prices that have risen even further since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Rand Paul (R-Kentucky)
Paul was the only Republican to vote for the first resolution to block Trump from ordering more strikes against Iran, and he has been a strong critic of what he has called “endless military entanglements.”
He has defended the deal to end the war as an alternative to the “chaos, power vacuums, and new threats” that he said the collapse of a regime can create.
“President Trump has a chance to break it through serious diplomacy. I am standing with him on that,” he said Monday on social media.
The post The 4 GOP senators who broke ranks and voted to block Trump from resuming Iran war appeared first on Washington Post.
