Washington DC, 05 March (H.S.): In a razor-thin rebuke to congressional oversight, the US Senate on Wednesday voted down a bipartisan resolution aimed at reining in President Donald Trump's military campaign against Iran, signaling fragile but firm Republican support for the five-day-old conflict that has already claimed the life of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The 53-47 defeat of the measure—sponsored by Democrat Tim Kaine of Virginia and Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky—preserves Trump's authority to press forward with airstrikes alongside Israel, without explicit congressional approval.
Republicans, who control the chamber, largely closed ranks behind the president, thwarting the bid despite growing Democratic outcry over its constitutionality.The resolution invoked the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which mandates withdrawal of US forces from unauthorized hostilities after 60 days unless Congress greenlights the action.
Its failure underscores deep partisan divides, even as the war spirals: Iranian missiles have struck a US base in Kuwait, killing American troops, while Tehran's supreme leader and top officials lie dead from initial US-Israeli strikes.
No evidence suggested an imminent threat to the US, Kaine told Agence France-Presse (AFP) after a classified briefing, accusing the administration of shifting justifications. On the flip side, Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham defended the offensive on X (formerly Twitter), citing Iran's roadside bombs that have maimed and killed hundreds, if not thousands of Americans and its death to America rhetoric.
Passage would have demanded at least four GOP defections alongside Democrats, but only Paul crossed the aisle; centrist Democrat John Fetterman voted no. Even if it had cleared the Senate, a parallel House vote looms Thursday, only for Trump to likely veto it—requiring an improbable two-thirds override.
The vote arrives amid chaos rippling worldwide. Gulf hubs like Dubai and Riyadh, once buffers against turmoil, now scramble to evacuate citizens as missile exchanges intensify. Administration briefings warn the operation could drag weeks, prompting Pentagon pleas for emergency funds to restock munitions.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
