The Senate late Wednesday rejected a war powers resolution that would have directed President Donald Trump to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran, hours after Trump berated Republican senators during a tense luncheon on Capitol Hill. The measure failed 47-50-1 just before midnight, and the Senate then left for a two-week recess.
The vote marked a reversal from Tuesday, when the Senate passed a nearly identical resolution with bipartisan support — 50-48 — with four Republicans joining Democrats. That measure had also been passed by the House. Both resolutions are nonbinding and do not carry the force of law, but Wednesday’s defeat underscored the White House’s ability to pressure GOP lawmakers back into alignment.
Trump was said to have harangued senators during the lunch, according to The Guardian, expressing particular anger at the four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on Tuesday. The president got into a heated argument with Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, one of those four Republicans and a senator who placed third in Louisiana’s Senate primary last month after Trump urged voters to back a rival candidate.
Speaking to reporters after the luncheon, Cassidy described the exchange. He said Trump asked, “Why would anybody vote for the War Powers Act?” Cassidy replied, “Is that a rhetorical question, or would you like to really know?”
Hours later, Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then returned to the Capitol to vote against the new 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,” Cassidy wrote in a post on X. Cassidy lost his re-election last month after Trump endorsed his opponent.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican who has repeatedly voted with Democrats to halt the war, voted present — effectively an abstention — saying he wanted to give Trump “more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace,” according to a post on X.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and a small group of GOP colleagues called Trump after the vote. Thune told reporters the president was “pleased with the outcome.” Trump later thanked Thune in a social media post and noted that Cassidy and Paul had switched their votes from previous positions. “This vote puts Iran on notice!” Trump wrote.
The war powers measure blocked Wednesday was on a separate track from the one adopted Tuesday. Both votes were largely symbolic and the measures do not carry the full force of law. The White House’s lobbying effort came after Trump had called the Republican defectors “losers” and, at the lunch, called Cassidy a “lunatic” following their tense exchange.