The Republican-led Senate on Thursday defeated a resolution to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran, in a vote forced by Democrats seeking to highlight fallout from the war in their bid to win back control of Congress.
The resolution failed by a vote of 49 to 50.
The vote came as more Republicans have begun to distance themselves from President Trump over the war, even as others in the party have continued to support it.
Among those speaking out in recent days is Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, who is in a tight race for an open Senate seat in her state. In a social media post this week, Hinson wrote, "Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn't have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran."
That same day, Mike Rogers, the GOP nominee for Senate in Michigan, said the war needs to end "to bring costs down — but Michigan families can't afford to wait."
Four Republicans joined Democrats on Thursday in supporting the resolution: Susan Collins of Maine, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the lone Democrat to vote no.
The resolution was sent to the Senate after passing the House in July by a vote of 214 to 208. A separate war powers resolution approved by the House last week garnered 220 votes, with a record seven Republicans joining Democrats in support, underscoring the growing unease inside the party over the war.
While the resolutions are not legally binding, they represent a symbolic rebuke to Trump over a war that lawmakers never voted to authorize.
Thursday's vote in the Senate came after Trump warned in an address to the United Nations this week that a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran may not come until after the midterm elections in November. At least 19 service members have been killed since fighting broke out in February, according to the Department of Defense, though recent reporting has suggested the Pentagon has failed to provide a complete accounting of the war both in terms of its financial cost and casualties.
The ongoing standoff in the Strait of Hormuz has fueled spikes in fuel prices, and more recently, diesel has hit daily records above $6.50 a gallon.
"Americans are getting crushed at the gas pumps, working families are getting cleaned out at grocery store counters, and family farms are going under because Trump took this country to war without authorization, without a plan, and without a second thought to the consequences," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said ahead of Thursday's vote.
Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., called the Democrat-forced vote "political," arguing the administration is doing everything they can to end the conflict. However, he conceded that many members of his party are ready for the war to be over.
"I think there are a lot of Republican members, yes, obviously. Everybody wants to see wars come to a conclusion," Thune told reporters. "We are hopeful that the administration's efforts will lead to getting …the shipping lanes open and taking some of the pressure off of the American peoples' pocketbooks via a lower price at the pump for gasoline."
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