Cassidy reverses Iran war powers vote after briefing from Witkoff
Cassidy said a note to Steve Witkoff changed his Iran vote after a Capitol briefing that had been missing for weeks.
A note passed across a heated Capitol meeting helped push Sen. Bill Cassidy into a new position on Iran war powers, after the Louisiana Republican said he would consider changing his vote only if he got briefed.
Cassidy told Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy, “Steve, I would consider changing my vote, but I’ve been voting yes because I’ve not been briefed,” in an interview with Margaret Brennan set to air Sunday. Cassidy then said he changed his support after getting that briefing.
The Senate fight over Iran had already moved through two separate votes. On May 19, the chamber advanced an Iran war powers resolution for the first time after seven failed attempts, winning 50-47 with Cassidy joining Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul as the only Republicans on the winning side. Three Republicans were absent. On June 16, the Senate narrowly rejected a different resolution, 47-48, and Cassidy again voted yes.
The House had already acted on June 3, passing a related resolution 215-208, with four Republicans in support. Lawmakers were weighing whether Donald Trump could continue operations tied to Iran without fresh authorization.
The conflict revived the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which requires the president to report to Congress within 48 hours and limits unauthorized hostilities to 60 days. Lawmakers used that framework as the U.S. and Israel launched a major military operation against Iran, after May 1, when the 60-day clock expired.
Democrats, led in the Senate by Tim Kaine and later Raphael Warnock, cast the resolutions as a constitutional check on presidential power. Senate Majority Leader John Thune asked for the text of a secret U.S.-Iran deal and a fuller accounting of the administration’s position.
At a Wednesday meeting at the Capitol, Cassidy clashed with Trump over war powers and pressed for a briefing. Trump at one point told Cassidy to sit down. Later, JD Vance and Witkoff briefed Cassidy, and he publicly thanked them for the quick response.
Trump-backed challengers defeated him in Louisiana’s Republican primary on May 17, when Cassidy finished third, and Julia Letlow and John Fleming advanced to a June 27 runoff.
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