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HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — Two Republican senators who voted to check President Donald Trump’s war powers on Tuesday shifted their position a little more than 24 hours later.
Senator Rand Paul, who has staunchly opposed Trump’s approach to the Iran war, voted “present” on a Wednesday measure directing the president to remove troops from the conflict. His Louisianan colleague, Senator Bill Cassidy, flipped his vote once again on the war, which the chamber green-lit with its defeat of the resolution.
Both of the Republicans helped their Democratic colleagues pass a Tuesday version of the measure that instructed Trump to withdraw U.S. forces. That resolution stays in effect but will likely fail to rein in the president’s ability to maintain an American presence near Iran.
The senators changed their vote after the White House intervened. Trump made his case for the war earlier Wednesday in a closed-door Republican lunch, in which he reportedly fumed at the members of his party who took a stand against the administration’s unilateral approach. Paul said the president’s argument, that the Senate’s resolution weakens the White House’s position against Tehran, influenced his shift.
“I did listen to the president today, and the president feels like it reduces his leverage to find a deal, and I do think it is important that we have peace negotiations,” the Kentuckian explained, according to The New York Times.
Trump argued with Cassidy during the lunch about his vote for Tuesday’s measure. The senator accused the president of failing to provide Congress and the public enough information about the war. Cassidy later flipped his stance—he did last month, too—after a meeting with Vice President JD Vance and White House negotiator Steve Witkoff, writing in a social media post they addressed his concerns.
Congress’s failure to defend its war powers has emboldened a president determined to reassert the U.S.’s position on the global stage despite the heavy costs. Trump, who has yet to seek authorization for many of his drastic foreign policy pursuits, has disrupted the international economy and strained American alliances in the name of MAGA.
His widespread tariffs, though somewhat successful in raising revenue, have harmed many of the U.S.’s longstanding relationships and increased prices for Americans. The president’s foreign interventions—real and threatened—have also strengthened international perception of the U.S. as a destabilizing force, which Trump appears to embrace.
He claimed in a Truth Social post after the Senate’s Tuesday vote that Iran was “respecting the hell out of the United States and its President, ME” for the first time in decades.
“These Senators have just made my job more difficult, but I will get it done, one way or the other, because I always get it done!” Trump added.
Do you have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at [email protected].
