Middle East

The Hill -   Republican senators are warning that any request from President Trump for tens of billions of dollars to pay for the Iran war will have a tough time passing the Senate, as patience wanes over what they say is a lack of a clear plan to end the conflict. GOP senators say additional funding likely won’t have the votes to pass unless Trump comes to Congress with a formal request for authorization, or at least a clear plan to end the war soon.

The big problem is that Trump seems to have no easy way of ending the war while Iran has a choke hold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of global oil supplies travel.  

The Guardian - In a 50-49 vote, the Senate on Wednesday narrowly rejected a seventh attempt by Democrats to force an end to the US war on Iran, as a third Republican voted in favor.

Time -  Senate Republicans on Wednesday narrowly blocked the strongest congressional effort yet to force an end to the war with Iran, as three Republican senators broke with their party over President Donald Trump’s handling of the conflict.

The measure, brought under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, failed by a single vote, 50 to 49. It was the seventh attempt in the Senate to pass such a measure since the war began in late February, and the first time Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, voted for it. 

Murkowski was joined by Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky in backing the resolution. Collins first broke with Republican leadership on the issue last month, shortly before the expiration of a 60-day legal window that some legal experts argue required the Administration to seek congressional authorization for continued military action. Paul, a longtime critic of expansive presidential war powers, has voted for all seven attempts.

...The deciding vote was cast by Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat and staunch supporter of Israel, who again crossed party lines to side with Republicans and oppose the measure.

Under the War Powers Resolution, presidents may introduce U.S. armed forces into hostilities for 60 days without congressional approval, after which authorization from Congress is required for military operations to continue. That clock began on March 2, when Trump formally notified Congress of military action against Iran, following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes launched days earlier.