US Senate blocks latest bid to rein in Trump Iran war powers, support grows
· The Straits Times- US Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic resolution for Congress to authorise Iran military action (50-49), though three Republicans supported it.
- Democrats dispute Trump's ceasefire claim, asserting the 1973 War Powers Act's 60-day limit applies to ongoing Iran hostilities.
- Democrats will reintroduce resolutions weekly, stressing Congress's constitutional power to declare war, opposing Trump's commander-in-chief authority.
WASHINGTON - US Senate Republicans on May 13 blocked the latest Democratic-led effort to end the Iran war until it is authorised by Congress, but the measure edged closer to passage as a third Republican voted to advance the Bill.
The Senate voted 50-49 not to advance the war powers resolution, nearly along party lines.
Three Republicans joined every Democrat but one in backing the measure sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon.
It was the seventh time this year that President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in the Senate had blocked similar resolutions.
Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted in favour of moving ahead, while Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted with Republicans to block it.
The vote was the first in the Senate since the conflict hit a 60-day deadline on May 1 for Mr Trump to come to Congress about the war. Mr Trump declared then that a ceasefire had “terminated” hostilities against Iran.
Under a 1973 US war powers law passed in response to the Vietnam War, a US president can wage military action for only 60 days before ending it, asking Congress for authorisation or seeking a 30-day extension due to “unavoidable military necessity regarding the safety of United States Armed Forces” while withdrawing forces.
Democrats disputed Mr Trump’s assertion that the deadline did not apply because of a ceasefire, saying the conflict is ongoing.
“There’s not a cessation of war hostilities,” Mr Merkley told reporters before the vote, citing the US blockade of Iranian ports and strikes on Iranian ships and Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on US ships and tankers.
“Both sides are still engaged in hostilities, and so I don’t accept that the 60-day clock is suspended,” he said.
Mr Merkley and other Senate Democrats said they planned to bring up another war powers resolution next week, and every week until the war ends or Mr Trump comes to lawmakers for authorisation.
Democrats in the House have also introduced war powers resolutions, also blocked by Republicans.
Democrats have called on Mr Trump to come to Congress for authorisation to use military force, noting that the US Constitution says Congress, not the president, can declare war. They have warned that Mr Trump may have pulled the country into a long conflict without setting out a clear strategy.
Republicans - and the White House - say Mr Trump’s actions are legal and within his rights as commander-in-chief to protect the US by ordering limited military operations.
Some congressional Republicans have accused Democrats of filing the war powers resolutions only because of their partisan opposition to Mr Trump. REUTERS