WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate tried and failed again Tuesday to advance a war powers resolution that would halt the U.S. military action against Iran, in what has become an almost weekly effort to rein in President Donald Trump as the administration floats a new plan to bring an end to the nearly four-month long war.
Senators of both parties have have been skeptical of the Trump administration's emerging Iran deal and frustrated by the White House's refusal to share details. They are expecting a briefing from the administration, but nothing has been scheduled before Friday's planned deadline for the two sides to sign the agreement.
The vote was 47-48, with four Republicans joining most Democrats in supporting the war powers resolution. That fell short of the majority needed to advance it.
“Join me in putting a check on this president’s lawless warmongering,” said Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who proposed the resolution, in a speech before the voting.
“The time is always right to do what’s right,” he said.
The measure was the ninth time the senators have tried to advance a resolution to end the war that U.S. and Israel launched against Iran over the nation's nuclear program. Trump launched the war on his own, without congressional approval, but as it drags on lawmakers have grown concerned over the costs, strategy and end game.
The House for the first time approved its own war powers resolution to halt U.S. military action against Iran this month, when a small number of Republicans crossed over to join with the Democrats to pass the measure.
Meanwhile, the Senate has settled into a familiar pattern, one vote short of the tally that would be needed to pass the measure, if all senators are present and voting.
Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana voted in favor of the war powers resolution. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted against.
Cassidy broke ranks with his party last month, voting for the first time to end the military action against Iran after having lost his own primary reelection bid in Louisiana. Trump had endorsed his challenger.
One Republican to watch, retiring Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, said he supports Trump's actions in Iran, even as he is closely watching the details of the administration's Iran deal.
“I just don’t think that it’s productive for me to cast a protest vote on something that I fundamentally support.” Tillis said. "I support the engagement in Iran. But I have a discerning eye over what the agreement will say.”
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia has been leading the party's efforts to halt the war in Iran unless Congress has authorized it. He vowed to keep pushing the measures forward on an almost weekly basis.
Kaine has argued that as negotiations are underway to end the conflict, Congress must work to ensure the U.S. does not resume military strikes in what has been a fragile ceasefire.
“If we're really in a period of maybe some stability here, let's not just allow it to start up again without Congress being involved in that decision,” Kaine said.
“If there are deals on the table, I don't know that we want the president to be the sole determinant of whether a deal's a good thing," he said. “He may decide, well that's not a good enough deal, let's go back to war. Well, hold on a second. We might want to weigh in on that.”
Senators are also beginning to discuss what Congress will do, if anything, to provide oversight of Trump's emerging Iran deal. Some senators have said the Senate must vote on any agreement the Trump administration strikes with Iran over its nuclear program. Others have said a vote in Congress is not necessary.
Congress in 2015 approved the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which spells out out requirements for the administration to submit any deal involving Iran's nuclear program for review by Congress.
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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., walks from the chamber to his office at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Friday that intense fighting in southern Lebanon killed four soldiers.
The military identified one of the dead, a lieutenant colonel, and said the three others would be identified later.
Lebanon’s state-run news agency says at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the south overnight.
The attacks came as planned talks in Switzerland between Iran and the United States over their efforts to reach a permanent end to the Iran war were delayed.
Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with Hezbollah, reported that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over ongoing Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.
Israel maintains it must continue to hold the territory and have a free hand to battle Hezbollah as it has been launching attacks into northern Israel.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Friday its forces struck targets throughout southern Lebanon overnight as Hezbollah reported intense fighting in the area, threatening the nascent agreement between Iran and the United States to end their war.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, which the Israeli military said were ongoing.
Continued fighting in Lebanon could unravel the newly signed deal, which calls for an immediate halt to military operations “on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” where Israel has been battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, and for ensuring Lebanon’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, has refused to withdraw, saying Israeli forces will remain in Lebanon until the threat from Hezbollah has been eliminated.
The attacks came as planned talks in Switzerland between Iran and the United States over their efforts to reach a permanent end to the Iran war were delayed.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Thursday put off his trip to Switzerland where he had been set to lead the talks. The White House blamed logistical issues, but the announcement came after a report from Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied to Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed the initial pact with Iran on Wednesday while dining with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles, which took immediate effect.
In comments following the signing, Vance offered a blunt warning to Israel, saying Trump was “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.”
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press reporter David Rising contributed to this story from Bangkok.
Barber Wissam Srour, 41, holds his daughter's bicycle recovered from his barbershop as he searches for belongings in the rubble of the shop, damaged in an Israeli strike, in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A girl looks toward what residents said was an Israeli drone flying overhead as a boy checks his family's water storage tank in Halta, southern Lebanon, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Smokes rise to the sky following an Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky in an area near Beaufort Castle following an Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky in an area near Beaufort Castle following an Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The southern town of Khiam, Lebanon, is seen through a fence near the Lebanon-Israel border, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Buildings damaged by Israeli strikes are seen through shattered glass from the Jabal Amel Hospital in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
