The U.S. Senate rejected a measure Thursday that would direct the president to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran, falling one vote short in a 49-50 tally. The official Senate roll call shows both of New York's senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, voted for the resolution.
The vote was on House Concurrent Resolution 89, a measure invoking the War Powers Resolution. It was the latest Senate attempt to require an end to U.S. participation in the conflict. Senate Democrats said it was their 14th such vote, though their release lists 12 roll calls and does not account for the other two.
Four Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — voted for the measure. Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman voted against it. Maryland Democrat Angela Alsobrooks did not vote, according to the Senate record.
What the vote would have done
The resolution directed the president, under a provision of the War Powers Resolution, to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities with Iran. Its rejection means the Senate did not approve that directive. The vote itself did not authorize new military action or enact a change in the deployment of forces.
Schumer criticized the outcome in a statement after the vote, saying Republicans had declined another chance to end the war. He argued that the conflict had imposed substantial costs on Americans and called for U.S. troops to come home. His release put the war's cost above $43 billion and cited at least 19 U.S. service members killed, but did not provide underlying documentation for those figures. They are not independently established by the Senate vote record.
The 49-50 tally was narrow but not entirely along party lines. The four Republican supporters and Fetterman's opposition were decisive in a chamber where one senator did not vote. Gillibrand had also sponsored a separate Iran war powers measure that Senate Democrats say was defeated in July.
Thursday's roll call was recorded as Senate vote No. 244 at 1:45 p.m. The official result lists the concurrent resolution as rejected. Any further attempt to change U.S. involvement in the conflict would require a new legislative or executive step.
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