Senate Rejects 13th Iran War Powers Bid 49-50 as Graham Russia Sanctions Package Nears Final Passage
In its final days before the August recess, the Senate on July 30 narrowly rejected a Democratic resolution to limit President Trump's military campaign against Iran, even as a bipartisan Russia-and-Iran sanctions bill named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham advanced toward final passage.
The Senate was the only chamber conducting business this week, as the House left already, leaving the Senate as the only game in town on Capitol Hill for its final two weeks before August recess. The House met only in brief pro forma sessions and held no votes or hearings.
The most significant floor action came July 30, when senators again declined to constrain the president's military operations against Iran. The war powers resolution offered by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., would require Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from fighting against Iran unless specifically authorized by Congress. It failed on a 49-50 vote to discharge it from the Foreign Relations Committee. The vote was the 13th time the Senate has voted on a resolution calling for President Trump to end U.S. military actions against Iran. (The Washington Post reported the tally as 50-49; the Senate's official record lists it as 49-50.)
The vote crossed party lines in both directions. Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted in favor of advancing the resolution, while Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted against it; Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who has voted both ways previously, this time voted against advancing it. According to Roll Call, the vote came as a brief respite in the fighting appeared to be over. The Epoch Times reported that the vote followed a heavy wave of U.S. strikes against Iran on July 29, after the regime launched multiple ballistic missiles in an attempted attack on U.S. forces.
Separately, the Senate continued moving the sanctions bill that has dominated the week. The measure was renamed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 after Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died July 11 and had spent more than a year negotiating it. The July 28 procedural vote drew 86 votes; the vote was 86-12, and Sen. Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote against it. The legislation authorizes tariffs of up to 200 percent on the world's largest purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas while expanding sanctions targeting Russia's financial institutions, oligarchs, and the "shadow fleet" used to evade existing restrictions, and it also extends sanctions on Iran through 2031. The Iran provision was a late addition sought by the White House to secure Trump's support.
The bill's path is not assured. It has more than 60 co-sponsors and broad bipartisan support, but its path through the House is less certain after lawmakers left for August recess. Some Democrats objected to the tariff authority it grants the president. According to Straight Arrow News, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., called the bill a "Trojan horse for tariff authorities" that Trump had "repeatedly abused."
In other action July 30, the Senate rejected 47-52 a motion to proceed on S.J.Res. 199, a resolution to disapprove an HHS rule on the Child Care and Development Fund, and agreed 50-47 to a slate of nominations under S.Res. 817. The Senate convened at 10:00 a.m. and adjourned at 3:50 p.m.
Highlights: - The Senate voted 49-50 on July 30 against discharging a war powers resolution offered by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that would require Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from fighting against Iran unless specifically authorized by Congress. - The Senate voted 86-12 to advance a Russia sanctions package inspired by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, clearing the first of several procedural hurdles with bipartisan support. - The Senate also rejected 47-52 a motion to proceed on S.J.Res. 199, a disapproval resolution targeting an HHS child care rule, and agreed 50-47 to a package of en bloc nominations (S.Res. 817).