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Senate Republicans blocked yet another bid by Senate Democrats to handcuff President Donald Trump’s war authority in Iran in what could be an avalanche of similar moves to break through the GOP’s floor takeover.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., triggered one of several war powers resolutions Senate Democrats have tucked away in their bid to compel Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to testify publicly about Trump’s war in Iran.
Booker told Fox News Digital before the vote he was not thinking “about this in politics” or breaking through the GOP’s floor tactics, but instead to refocus on issues that Trump promised to deal with on the campaign trail.
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Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and five other Senate Democrats are planning to dominate the Senate floor with war powers votes unless Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth publicly testify on the war in Iran. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“We need to focus on what the issues of the people are and put before them a president who promised to bring your prices down and keep us out of wars, who is now bringing us into more wars and driving up our prices as a result,” Booker said. “The question is, what should Congress do as a result?”
But, as with Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine’s attempt earlier this month, Republicans rallied behind the president to block the bill.
Still, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and nearly every Senate Democrat tried to curtail Trump’s use of the military in the Middle East. Only Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., broke from Democrats to kill the resolution.
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President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., depart a Friends of Ireland luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 17, 2026. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
It likely won’t be the last war powers resolution to hit the floor this week, given that a cohort of Senate Democrats have four others teed up. Their resolutions would direct an immediate end to fighting with Iran and removal of forces in the region.
Republicans have pushed back against Democrats’ demands that Rubio and Hegseth appear on the Hill for hearings and argued that they have consistently briefed lawmakers in classified settings and spoken with the media about the war.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has lauded the administration’s continued strikes in Iran, told Fox News Digital he believed Democrats’ continued use of war powers resolutions was “an abuse of the process, and I’m tired of it.”
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., during a demonstration for human rights in Iran at Theresienwiese during the 62nd Munich Security Conference (Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images)
“I think they’re impeding the war effort. We’ve spoken on this,” Graham said. “I find it to be cheap politics.”
Still, Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a flashpoint in the conflict with concerns over oil prices and possible ground troop involvement rising.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the nation’s war planners were doing a “masterful job” and kneecapping Iran’s offensive capabilities, adding that Trump was well within his authority as president to carry out Operation Epic Fury.
“The Strait of Hormuz, obviously, is an issue that we’re all paying a lot of attention to,” Thune said. “But I feel confident that the administration and those who are leading our military efforts there ultimately will be successful in getting things open up there.”
