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War Powers on Camera: Every Vote, the Leaders Who Said "Not a War," and the Deadline That Was Declared Away

Evidence rating: CONFIRMED for the June 2025, June 2026, and September 2026 votes (CNN, CBS, Roll Call, Daily Caller, Reuters, NBC). MODERATE for the March–April 2026 tallies known only from X posts and summaries; those are marked.

The Constitution (Article I, Section 8) gives Congress, not the President, the power to declare war. The War Powers Resolution of 1973, passed over President Nixon's veto after Vietnam, requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of sending forces into hostilities and to end them within 60 days (plus 30 days to withdraw) unless Congress authorizes the war. A war powers resolution is a vote to enforce that limit. An AUMF (Authorization for Use of Military Force) is the opposite: a law that approves a war. Congress has passed no AUMF and no declaration of war against Iran.

Before the war: "not use our sons and daughters"​

Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has pushed war powers votes on Iran for years. In 2019 he promised: "If POTUS starts a war against Iran to protect Saudis, we will file motion immediately to force this to Senate floor & force a vote" (Andrea Mitchell Reports on X, September 17, 2019). On January 11, 2026, seven weeks before the war, on CBS's Face the Nation: "U.S. military action in Iran would be a massive mistake," and the U.S. should support Iran's protesters "through sanctions, but not use our sons and daughters in the military to do so" (CBS transcript).

June 2025: 47–53​

On the evening of June 21, 2025, before the U.S. strikes were announced, Kaine said on the Senate floor, per the C-SPAN captions, that there is "no part of the constitution that's more important than the article 1 provisions making plain that the united states should not be at war without a vote of congress" (C-SPAN via Internet Archive). On June 27 the Senate rejected his resolution 47–53. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only Republican yes; John Fetterman (D-Pa.) the only Democratic no (CNN, June 27, 2025; Roll Call).

March 2026: "not at war," and the first votes fail​

  • Speaker Mike Johnson, March 6: "We're not at war, we have no intention at being at war. Trump and the Department of Defense have made it very clear, this is a limited operation" (video on X, 81,000 views). He called a war powers resolution "dangerous," as one account quoted him (post on X, March 6, 2026).
  • Majority Leader John Thune: "I think the president has the authority that he needs to conduct the activities, the operations that are currently underway there" (Threads).
  • Kaine, March 4: "This is a dumb war. I mean, have we really learned nothing?" (Sen. Kaine's site). The Senate resolution failed.
  • The House rejected war powers resolutions in March, including one sponsored by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). Posts reported a House resolution "failed by 1 vote" and an X news page headlined "House Ties 212-212 on Resolution to End U.S. Iran Hostilities." Exact roll calls were not captured. MODERATE.
  • On March 3, six moderate House Democrats offered a text that would forbid ground troops in Iran "in a combat role, including for regime change, or for occupation unless explicitly authorized by Congress" (Jewish Insider).

April: "The Senate is not doing its job"​

Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), filing more resolutions on April 13: "We're going to continue to call it out. The Senate is not doing its job" (AC360 on Threads). A later post recorded: "Senate blocks its fifth Iran war powers resolution, 47–53. @RandPaul voted yes. @JohnFetterman voted no. The 60-day WPR clock hits May 1."

May 1: the 60-day clock, "terminated"​

As the 60-day limit arrived, President Trump said on video of congressional approval: "It's never been sought before.. Nobody's every got it before.. Nobody's ever sought it before.. Nobody's ever asked for it before.. It's never been used before.. Why should we be different?" (video post on X, May 1, 2026). Reuters: he met the deadline "by declaring that the hostilities had been 'terminated' by a ceasefire, despite continuing attacks and a blockade of Iranian ports. Legal experts said that argument might not survive judicial scrutiny" (Reuters explainer).

May 21: the vote leadership pulled​

House Republican leaders cancelled a vote on Rep. Gregory Meeks's resolution. X's summary: they "abruptly canceled a vote on a resolution directing President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran or win approval from Congress to continue the war, after it became clear they lacked the votes to defeat the measure." The New York Times headline, as relayed: "G.O.P. Pulls Measure to End Iran War, Lacking Votes to Defeat It." Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) on the floor: "Are we not voting on it because the American people are sick and tired of this illegal war that is costing tens of billions of dollars?" (X news summary, May 21, 2026).

June: first-ever passage in both chambers​

  • June 3, House: 215–208 for H.Con.Res.86 (Meeks), with Republicans Warren Davidson, Thomas Massie, Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Barrett voting yes.
  • June 23, Senate: 50–48, with Republicans Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy and Lisa Murkowski voting yes. A Kaine discharge motion passed 50–47 the same day (Daily Caller, June 23, 2026).
  • Reuters: "It is the first time such a resolution has passed both chambers of Congress." Days earlier, "Senate Republicans narrowly blocked a resolution ... as two party members switched their votes after Trump berated them at an angry lunch meeting." A Reuters/Ipsos poll found "just one in four Americans believe the war is worth its costs" (Reuters).

The resolution directs the President to "remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a congressional authorization for use of military force against Iran." Meeks: "Regardless of what President Trump says, this measure is binding under the War Powers Resolution ... Congress never authorized this failed war." Brookings scholar Scott Anderson told Reuters: "The executive branch will likely ignore it on constitutional grounds." It did: within days Rep. Ro Khanna said new U.S. strikes violated the resolution (Al Jazeera on X, June 27, 2026), and on July 7 strikes resumed.

July to September: again, and one vote short​

After strikes resumed, the House passed another withdrawal resolution in July, 214–208, NBC and CBS reported. On September 15, Rep. Massie forced a vote on eight articles impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "over the Iran war and civilian mass killings," as one account summarized it (post on X, September 15, 2026). On September 24 the Senate rejected a withdrawal resolution 49–50; Republicans Paul, Collins, Murkowski and Thom Tillis voted yes, and Fetterman no. Kaine: "Congress has the constitutional power to declare war, not the president." NBC counted 19 U.S. service members killed (NBC News, September 24, 2026; CBS News).

No hearings​

A September post noted: "GOP held 30 hearings on Benghazi. They haven't held any specifically on Iran war," linking The Independent (post on X; The Independent). Posture hearings touched the war, but seven months in, the committees had held none devoted to it.

What the votes show​

Congress never authorized this war. A majority of both houses voted to end it in June; the President's position is that the vote does not bind him, and the strikes went on. Leadership called it "not a war" and a "limited operation" while committee chairmen said they were "not getting enough answers." The one lever left to the public is the one Joe Kent and others kept pointing to: the phone. The Capitol switchboard is (202) 224-3121.

Status: Tim Kaine, Rand Paul, John Fetterman, Mike Johnson, John Thune, Cory Booker, Donald Trump, Gregory Meeks, Jim McGovern, Thomas Massie, Ro Khanna, Warren Davidson, Brian Fitzpatrick, Tom Barrett, Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, Scott Anderson, and Pete Hegseth are alive.

Sources​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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