Congress Returns, Democrats Push Votes to Limit Iran War Powers

Congress returned from a two-week recess and immediately reopened the fight over who controls U.S. military action against Iran, with Democrats in both chambers preparing new votes to curb President Donald Trump’s authority to keep striking without congressional approval.

The clash centers on war powers, a constitutional fault line that has sharpened as the conflict with Iran has stretched on and reports have put the death toll above 1,000, including six U.S. service members. Lawmakers are not just debating the pace of the fighting; they are arguing over whether the administration has pushed beyond the limits of the War Powers Resolution, which generally requires unauthorized hostilities to end within 60 days unless Congress authorizes them.

The Senate already tested that question and rejected a Democratic-led resolution by a 47-53 procedural vote. Rand Paul was the only Republican to support it, while John Fetterman was the only Democrat to oppose it. The measure, S.J.Res.118, was introduced on March 5 by Cory Booker, Tim Kaine, Adam Schiff and Chris Murphy, and its defeat left Democrats looking for another route to force Congress back into the debate.

In the House, Republicans previously blocked a Democratic effort to force a vote during a pro forma session while lawmakers were still out of Washington, shutting down even the chance for debate at that moment. Now that Congress has returned, Democrats are planning to press both chambers again and make Republicans take another public position on whether Trump can continue the campaign against Iran without explicit authorization.

The renewed push also exposes divisions inside the Republican Party. Some Republicans have raised questions about the scope of the war, the administration’s threats against Iranian infrastructure and the growing price tag of the operation. That matters as the region remains unstable and a tenuous ceasefire or de-escalation effort hangs over the conflict, with the political stakes in Washington rising alongside the military ones in Tehran and beyond.

For Democrats, the coming votes are as much about asserting Congress’s authority as they are about the war itself. For Trump, they amount to a challenge over whether he can keep moving ahead on Iran with only limited resistance from Capitol Hill.