Schumer Vows to Keep Forcing Iran War Powers Votes as Senators Sink Another Resolution
"If Donald Trump won’t dig us out of this hole, Congress must step into the breach and exercise its constitutional authority over matters of war and peace," the minority leader said.
For the fifth time since President Donald Trump launched the Iran War in February, US senators on Wednesday voted down a resolution that would have blocked Trump from continuing his joint assault with Israel on the Mideast nation.
Upper chamber lawmakers voted 51-46 against SJ Res. 114, Sen. Tammy Baldwin's (D-Wis.) war powers resolution. Kentucky Republican Rand Paul joined Democrats in voting for the resolution, while John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to oppose it. Three senators—Chuck Grassley (R-Neb.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.)—did not vote.
Wednesday's vote marked the fifth time that an Iran war powers resolution has failed to pass the Senate this year. On March 4, Fetterman helped upper chamber Republicans sink one such measure introduced by Paul and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). Two weeks later, senators came within three votes of passing a similar resolution introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), a rejection repeated days later in a follow-up vote. Last week, Fetterman again crossed the aisle to help defeat a fourth resolution introduced by disabled combat veteran Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).
In remarks delivered on the Senate floor before Wednesday's vote, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said: "Every day, we hear new promises from the Trump administration that victory has been achieved, that peace is at hand, that costs are starting to come down. And every day, we see the opposite. Trump can talk all he wants, but nothing will change until he realizes that this war needs to end."
Donald Trump has been offering empty promises to end his war for weeks.At 5 PM, Senate Democrats will offer his Senate Republican puppets a FIFTH chance to do just that with a vote on our War Powers Resolution.
[image or embed]
— Chuck Schumer (@schumer.senate.gov) April 22, 2026 at 1:48 PM
"And if Donald Trump won’t dig us out of this hole, Congress must step into the breach and exercise its constitutional authority over matters of war and peace," Schumer added. "Democrats will continue to force votes on our resolutions every week until Senate Republicans see reason."
On Tuesday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced a fresh Iran war powers resolution, reportedly in coordination with the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) previously introduced the first of three failed Iran war powers resolutions in the lower chamber.
Responding to Wednesday's vote, Fetterman told Fox News host Sean Hannity that "Iran must be so excited by the American media and the Democratic Party," adding that Iranian leaders must be thinking, "as long as we can hang on... more and more people [will] continue to vote against the Trump administration."
As US and Israeli attacks on Iran—which have left more than 30,000 people dead or wounded, according to Iranian and international officials—are paused for a truce extension pending the outcome of negotiations, the Trump administration announced Wednesday that US Navy Secretary John Phelan is resigning "effective immediately." The administration gave no reason for the move.
