Senate Reverses Course, Hands Trump Iran War Powers Win
🤖 AI Generated ImageA day after delivering its sharpest rebuke yet of Trump's Iran war, the Senate reversed course.
Late Wednesday, it voted to block a nearly identical war powers measure — and handed the president the win he'd spent the day demanding.
What Changed Between Tuesday and Wednesday
The Senate voted 50-47 to block a war powers resolution led by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine from advancing, according to CBS News' reporting on the vote.
That outcome flipped the math from just one day earlier, when the Senate passed a separate but nearly identical resolution 50-48 against the administration's wishes.
Two Republicans made the difference. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who had voted in favor of Tuesday's resolution, voted against advancing Wednesday's version. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who had supported several previous Iran war powers resolutions, voted present instead.
📰 Related: Senate Passes Iran War Powers Resolution, Rebuking Trump
The Lunch That Set It Off
The reversal followed a tense, closed-door lunch between Trump and Senate Republicans earlier Wednesday.
Trump confronted Cassidy directly over his Tuesday vote, at one point telling him to sit down and calling him a "lunatic," according to multiple sources who described the exchange to ABC News.
Cassidy didn't dispute the characterization when asked. "He asked why would anybody vote for the War Powers Act," Cassidy told reporters afterward, recounting his own response: "I said, 'is that a rhetorical question, or would you like to really know?'" Cassidy acknowledged he lost his temper, telling Trump the war had been promised to last four weeks and instead had stretched to four months.
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What Happened Between the Shouting and the Vote
Hours after the confrontation, Cassidy received a different kind of attention.
Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff briefed Cassidy personally on Iran, a conversation Cassidy said on social media had addressed "many of my concerns." He returned to the Capitol and voted to block the Kaine resolution that night.
Paul framed his own shift differently, saying his underlying view on war powers hadn't changed, but that with hostilities apparently over, he wanted to give the president "more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace."
Not every Republican moved the same direction. Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted to advance the Kaine resolution anyway, siding with most Democrats, while Sen. John Fetterman remained the lone Democrat voting no.
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The Housing Bill Sitting Underneath All of This
The Iran vote wasn't the only reversal Trump forced Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Trump canceled plans to sign a bipartisan housing affordability bill that had passed with overwhelming support, telling senators he wouldn't sign it until Congress passed his separate SAVE America Act first.
That delay tracks a pattern that's defined recent weeks: Trump has also blocked a Senate vote on confirming his own director of national intelligence nominee and held up FISA reauthorization, each time tying unrelated priorities to the SAVE America Act's passage.
What This Reversal Actually Settles
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and a small group of GOP colleagues called Trump after Wednesday's vote. Thune told reporters the president was "pleased with the outcome."
Trump confirmed as much on Truth Social, writing that Cassidy and Paul had switched their votes and adding: "This vote puts Iran on notice!"
What the reversal doesn't settle is whether it's actually enough to repair the relationship. Trump has spent recent weeks pressuring the same senators on multiple fronts at once — endorsing primary challengers against two of them, tying his housing bill signature to unrelated legislation, and publicly berating a sitting senator face to face — and Wednesday's vote reflects Republicans still choosing to placate him rather than a resolved disagreement.
Key Takeaways
- The Senate voted 50-47 Wednesday to block a war powers resolution, reversing Tuesday's 50-48 vote that had rebuked Trump.
- Sen. Bill Cassidy switched his vote after a heated lunch confrontation with Trump, who called him a "lunatic."
- Sen. Rand Paul voted present instead of yes, citing the president's negotiating leverage.
- Cassidy received a personal Iran briefing from VP JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff before the vote.
- Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski still voted to advance the resolution; John Fetterman remained the lone Democratic no.
- Trump separately delayed signing a housing bill, tying it to his SAVE America Act.
Sources
- CBS News — Senate Rejects Measure to Restrict Trump's Iran War Powers as Key Republicans Shift Votes
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World News Correspondent
Rachel Hayes reports on international affairs, geopolitics, and breaking world news. Based in London, she covers stories shaping the UK and global political landscape.
