The US Senate reversed course on efforts to limit President Donald Trump's authority over the war with Iran, rejecting a measure similar to one it had approved a day earlier.
The later vote ended 47-50-1. Republican Senators Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy, who had previously supported restrictions on the president's war powers, changed their positions. Paul voted present, while Cassidy opposed advancing the resolution.
Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski again supported the measure, while Democratic Senator John Fetterman again voted against it. The shift followed Trump's criticism of Republicans who had backed the earlier resolution or missed that vote.
Cassidy had confronted Trump during a tense Republican lunch, arguing that Congress and the public had not received enough information about the conflict. Later that day, he said a detailed briefing from Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff had addressed many of his concerns.
Paul said his view of war powers and executive authority had not changed, but that he wanted to give the president greater room to negotiate because hostilities appeared to be ending. Trump welcomed the outcome and said it strengthened his position toward Iran.
The vote came one day after the Senate adopted a concurrent resolution by 50-48 directing the president to remove US forces from the conflict. The reversal underscored the fragile congressional coalition seeking to constrain military action and the administration's effort to regain Republican support.
Democratic supporters argued that congressional authorization remained necessary even after a preliminary agreement with Iran. Their position was that any renewed military action should not proceed without Congress taking part in the decision.
