US Senate reverses course on president’s war powers

The late-night procedural vote ended in a 50-47 tally to block the measure, which originally advanced in May. The resolution directed Trump to withdraw US forces from hostilities with Iran until Congress authorises the deployment. The turnaround came after intense White House pressure, prompting two Republican senators who supported previous checks on executive authority to alter their stances. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana voted no, while Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky voted “present”. The vote followed a contentious lunch on Capitol Hill where Trump lashed out at lawmakers. Senator John Kennedy told The New York Times that Trump “was mad as a murder hornet,” and other attendees said the president aired a long list of grievances. During the high-volume exch­ange, Trump engaged in a shouting match with Cassidy, who demanded the administration explain a framework deal signed last week. The MoU gives Iran financial incentives but falls short of the goals laid out at the war’s beginning, which started with US and Israeli strikes on February 28. “The American people need to know more than we are being told,” Cassidy told reporters. “It does not appear, although I don’t know for sure, that the course of this is going the way that we were told.” Cassidy reversed his stance after receiving an afternoon White House briefing. On social media platform X, Cassidy thanked Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff for the thorough briefing, adding, “I ap