 "President Donald Trump delivers remarks as he hosts a \"One, Big, Beautiful\" event in the East Room of the White House on June 26, 2025 in Washington, DC. Image- AFP")
The US Senate on Friday failed to pass the war-powers resolution, which was intended to curb President Donald Trump’s power to escalate the war in Iran or elsewhere single-handedly. The resolution also aims to “direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
In the Friday voting, it failed to gain any momentum and was voted down 53-47. It is pertinent to note that the resolution was introduced by Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. The bill was mainly split along partisan lines. While one Republican, Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted for it, one Democrat, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted against it.
“ Congress declares war ,” Kaine said in a speech on the Senate floor. He emphasised that the US Constitution, back in 1787, was wary of giving the power to start a war to one person, so much so that they did not even entrust it to George Washington, the first commander-in-chief.
“They decided that war was too big a decision for one person,” Kaine said. “And so they wrote a constitution that said the United States should not be at war without a vote of Congress.”
What was the bill about
The measure would have compelled Trump to seek authorisation from the US Congress before taking military actions against US adversaries. On 22 June, Trump ordered airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities , escalating tensions in West Asia.
The American strikes directly followed Israel launching attacks on Iran, and Tehran retaliating. Following the strikes, Trump said that the US bombardment “totally obliterated” key nuclear enrichment facilities and deemed the mission a success. However, some initial reports suggested that the damage was minimal. Iran eventually condemned the attack.
On Friday, Trump claimed that Iran had halted its nuclear ambitions after the bombings. But, he said, he would “absolutely” continue to attack the country’s nuclear sites if he believed it was once again enriching uranium. “Time will tell,” Trump said at the White House. “But I don’t believe that they’re going to go back into nuclear anytime soon.”