The United States Senate, with a Republican majority, signaled growing opposition to the continuation of the war in Iran in a procedural vote on Tuesday (the 19th), in a move that reflects the increasing political discomfort with an external conflict that has been imposing a heavy financial cost on Americans.
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, whose bid for reelection was blocked by President Donald Trump in an intra-Republican contest on Saturday (16), joined three other Republican senators in voting to get past this stage and move toward a final vote on a resolution seeking to end the hostilities. It was the first time Cassidy supported the measure, indicating that Trump’s retaliation campaign against him had ultimately freed the senator to openly oppose the president.
The vote, 50 to 47, is a clear sign of erosion of support for the military action as Trump weighs launching a new attack on Iran. It is still unclear whether the resolution will actually be approved by the Senate.
Trump said he had postponed a new bombardment of Iran, initially scheduled for Tuesday, at the request of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states. But he threatened Iran with “one more major attack” if Tehran does not agree to strike a deal with him.
The eventual approval, by the Senate, of the ‘War Powers’ resolution calling for an end to hostilities — and that still depends on a future vote — would not immediately interrupt military operations. The measure would also have to be approved by the House of Representatives, controlled by Republicans, before moving to the president’s signature, which would allow Trump to veto it before it takes effect.
Nevertheless, the symbolic impact of a formal rebuke from the Senate to the war would be enormous — displaying divisions within the American government to both the domestic audience and the rest of the world.
Trump, however, still has time to try to turn votes in the Senate before the war powers resolution is considered.
Three Republicans — Thom Tillis, of North Carolina; John Cornyn, of Texas; and Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama — did not vote. Trump has publicly clashed with Tillis and, on Tuesday, declared his support for Cornyn’s Republican opponent.
Earlier this year, the Senate had decided to move forward with a similar resolution on the Venezuela conflict, but ultimately rejected the text in the final vote, after Trump said that Republicans who supported moving forward with the measure should not win another election.
This time, the senators’ political calculus may be changing. Americans have shown growing irritation with the economic cost of the war, which pushed the national average price of regular gasoline to $4.53 per gallon on Tuesday, at a time when the population had already been complaining about the cost of living.
According to a New York Times/Siena poll released on Monday, 64% of Americans say that entering into war with Iran was the wrong decision.
Resistance is also growing in the House, which recorded a tie in a vote last week on halting the war.
© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.
