New: Iran War Powers Vote Fails in the Senate — Again

On Thursday, the Senate attempted to pass a War Powers resolution intended to rein in President Trump's action against Iran. It failed to pass by a veto-proof margin, by a mostly party-line, 49-50 vote. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) voted no. Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) was absent. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) voted yes. In other words, the usual dissenters in both parties.

U.S. Senate BLOCKS War Powers Resolution to Stop Military Action Against Iran, 49-50. pic.twitter.com/BcRjCiHgII

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 24, 2026

Fox News, in an article on the vote, made a cogent point:

Thursday’s vote comes as Republicans are getting an earful about the war, particularly over skyrocketing gas and diesel prices, on the campaign trail. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged that fuel prices are a growing issue for Americans.

"Well, I think people are, there's voter fatigue with high gas prices and high diesel prices in my part of the world," Thune said.

"So, that's a frustration, it's an economic frustration, and that's why, again, I hope the administration is laser-focused on trying to get the [Strait of Hormuz] open, get the shipping lights opened up, and help out with that global energy supply, because that ultimately will get prices down," he continued.

It's a fair point, with the midterms close at hand, and gasoline and diesel prices still at near-record highs. Even if Iran folds today, it's likely that gas prices will still be higher than anyone on the Republican side would like to see on Election Day, and it's a point that GOP candidates will be hit with, every day, between now and the election.

Here's the counter argument: Right now, the only way out of Iran is through. The initial goal was to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, and we have (probably) done that. If Iran had successfully built a nuke, we'd likely know about it, because the first undeniable sign of that would be a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv — or New York. But now the theocracy has been kicked back on its heels, Iran's military has been shredded, and their economy is in a shambles. Taking the terror-sponsor Iran out and replacing it with something even a little more reasonable would be a major win for the Middle East, for oil prices, for international security, and it would be a big, possibly existential blow for Iran-sponsored terror groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Yemen-based Houthis. Yes, gas prices are high now. But they have been high before, most notably during the tenure of Joe Biden, and we were not at war with Iran then. 

As for the Republican holdouts, one of them, Senator Tillis, is retiring at the end of this term, and the other three, including Alaska's Embarrassment, Princess Lisa Murkowski, can be counted on to vote yes on any future war powers resolution. That's another good argument for increasing the Republican majority in the Senate; that's what has to be done in November. As for Senator Fetterman, well, perhaps he may want to take a good hard look at going independent. He sure doesn't seem too happy with a bunch of his fellow Democrats.

Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats desperately try to stop it.  

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