US Republicans back Trump on Iran strikes, block bid to rein in war powers

WASHINGTON, March ⁠4 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans backed President Donald Trump's ⁠military campaign against Iran on Wednesday, voting to block ‌a bipartisan resolution aiming to stop the air war and require that any hostilities against Iran be authorized by Congress. Read full story A view of the U.S. Capitol building at night in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper WASHINGTON, March ⁠4 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans backed President Donald Trump's ⁠military campaign against Iran on Wednesday, voting to block ‌a bipartisan resolution aiming to stop the air war and require that any hostilities against Iran be authorized by Congress.As voting continued, the ​tally in the 100-member Senate was ⁠52 to 47 not to ⁠advance the resolution, largely along party lines, with almost every ⁠Republican ‌voting against the procedural motion and almost every Democrat supporting it.The latest effort by Democrats and ⁠a few Republicans to rein in President Donald ​Trump's repeated ‌foreign troop deployments, sponsors described the war powers resolution ⁠as a ​bid to take back Congress' responsibility to declare war, as spelled out in the U.S. Constitution.Opponents rejected this, insisting that Trump's ⁠action was legal and within his ​right as commander in chief to protect the United States by ordering limited strikes."This is not a forever war, indeed ⁠not even close to it. This is going to end very quickly," Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a speech ​against the resolution.The measure had not been ⁠expected to succeed. Trump's fellow Republicans hold slim majorities in ​both the Senate and House of ‌Representatives, and have blocked previous ​resolutions seeking to curb his war powers. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Alistair Bell) Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates! Report a mistake What is the issue about? Spelling and grammatical error Factually incorrect Story is irrelevant This field is mandatory. Please provide details of the report. Email (optional) Please enter valid email. Report issue Cancel Invalid captcha response. Please re-try again. Thank you for your report!