The Senate on Wednesday voted to reject a Democratic war powers resolution aimed at ending U.S. military action against Iran.
However, three Republicans in the upper chamber crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats in support of the resolution in a 50-49 vote. These include Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans against the measure.
The resolution would instruct President Donald Trump to remove U.S. armed forces from military hostilities against Iran unless he obtains approval from Congress. However, the resolution would not prevent the U.S. from taking action to defend itself or military personnel. The Pentagon could also share intelligence or assist partner nations in intercepting Iranian attacks.
49-50, Senate fails to pass a measure to end Trump's war in Iran — but gets closer.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 13, 2026
3 Rs vote YES: Paul, Collins, Murkowski.
Murkowski is a flip, having voted no previously.
1 Dem votes NO: Fetterman. (For the first time he's the deciding vote here.)
Ricketts missed the vote.
Wednesday’s vote was a motion to discharge the resolution from committee so the full Senate could take up a vote on the measure. The overall objective was for Congress to decide whether it would allow the war to continue or to put a stop to it.
Sens. Paul and Collins had previously voted in favor of the resolution while Murkowski did not. Murkowski initially voiced concerns about the lack of a clear endgame, but voted against the resolution anyway because she believed it would abruptly cut off military operations in the middle of the conflict.
After previously voting against this 6 times, GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski today flipped her vote and joined Dems to try to halt the war in Iran + require Trump to get congressional approval.
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) May 13, 2026
They nearly had the votes.
Dem Sen. John Fetterman helped sink it. https://t.co/hfVnsaI7T0
However, Murkowski changed her tune after War Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that the U.S. might restart airstrikes on Iran without the approval of Congress. She decided to vote for the resolution so the Senate could directly confront the matter.
Collins had already broken with GOP leaders in April when she backed the resolution. But before that, she opposed it. Paul has voted in favor of the measure each time it has come up for a vote. Back in March, he was the only GOP senator to vote for reining in the Trump administration.
