Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy Flip Senate Iran War Powers Vote After Trump Meeting

The Republican-controlled US Senate approved a war powers measure on Tuesday demanding President Donald Trump halt the war in Iran or seek congressional approval before continuing military action, and the measure passed 50-48 with a handful of Republicans joining Democrats.

Hours later, two Republican senators reversed course after a volatile Capitol Hill meeting with Trump, with Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana switching their votes in a late-night session June 24.

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Trump celebrated the change on Truth Social, posting, "Wow! The Senate just changed its vote on Iran from 50-48 against, to 50-47 for," and the Senate then rejected a resolution Wednesday to block Trump from resuming the war with Iran.

The BBC described Tuesday’s vote as the first time both chambers of Congress approved a concurrent resolution instructing a president to end a military action since the War Powers Resolution of 1973 was enacted, while Time reported Trump called the Senate vote "meaningless" after the shouting match with Republicans.

In the same reporting, Cassidy said after the meeting, "I stood and said, 'You have not told the American people what’s going on,'" as he defended his earlier support for the war powers rebuke.

After Trump complained about the Tuesday vote, Senate Republicans held a late-night vote Wednesday to try to appease him, and the procedural motion failed in a 50 to 47 vote.

AP reported that Trump harangued GOP senators face to face earlier in the day for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran on Tuesday, and it said he exchanged particularly harsh words with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy.

AP News

Cassidy later told reporters, "I stood and said, 'You have not told the American people what’s going on,'" and he also said he would continue voting for war powers measures until Congress and the American people were given more information.

In the same AP account, Rand Paul voted present and said on X he wanted "to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace," after receiving a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff.

Trump welcomed the vote on Truth Social, writing, "This vote puts Iran on notice!" as CNN described Paul voting present and Cassidy voting against advancing the resolution with the final tally 47-50-1.

The dispute played out as Trump argued the Senate’s rebuke could interrupt negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program, and the Washington Post said the Senate rejected a resolution Wednesday to block Trump from resuming the war after he complained that the Tuesday passage undermined ongoing negotiations.

Time reported Trump told TIME in the Oval Office, "They go, 'What’s that all about?' No, you know it’s meaningless," after the Senate voted to end the war with Iran or seek congressional authorization.

BBC said the practical impact was unlikely to have much effect because the ceasefire agreed on 7 April meant there were no hostilities from which to withdraw American forces, while it also quoted Michael Glennon saying the vote was "more significant politically."

The BBC also reported that the measure only passed because two Republican senators were absent—Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick—and it said four Republicans voted with Democrats: Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Bill Cassidy.

In the same BBC account, the House passed its version earlier this month by a 215-208 vote, and the BBC noted that Trump criticized the resolution on Tuesday night as "poorly timed and meaningless" on Truth Social.