Senate votes on Iran war powers as 60-day deadline hits; VRA ruling draws 3 Dem senators

Senate Democrats announced Wednesday that a vote on Sen. Adam Schiff's War Powers Resolution would come Thursday — the precise moment the War Powers Act's 60-day clock expired on the Iran conflict. Schiff's resolution is co-led by Leader Schumer and nine other Democratic senators, including Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.

"Donald Trump and his administration are endangering the lives of servicemembers and spending billions on an illegal war that is not supported by the majority of Americans," said Schumer. "The 60-day milestone underscores the pressing need to pass our War Powers Resolution to withdraw forces from this war, but to be clear — Congress should have acted weeks ago."

Kaine was direct about the costs: "It's been nearly 60 days of President Trump's war of choice in Iran, which has killed and injured U.S. servicemembers and innocent civilians, raised gas prices across the country, created more instability in the region, and depleted our munition stockpiles." Murphy put the economics in household terms, calculating that a commuter buying roughly 1,000 gallons of fuel annually faces "1000 to $2,000 out of your pocket" from the price spike, and warned: "You are about to see a spike in the cost of technological products, automobiles, fabrics, clothing, medical devices, everything is getting more expensive because of one person's insane decision."

In a floor statement, Murkowski stopped short of endorsing the resolution while demanding a clearer congressional role: "The Constitution is clear on this point, Congress holds the power to declare war and authorize the use of military force... if we don't press them to define those parameters, we may risk repeating history." Collins became the highest-profile Republican to cross over, stating: "Further military action against Iran must have a clear mission, achievable goals, and a defined strategy for bringing the conflict to a close. I voted to end the continuation of these military hostilities at this time until such a case is made." Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., used the 60-day mark to reintroduce the Reactors at Risk Act, directing the Pentagon and NNSA to develop plans to prevent nuclear-plant catastrophes in war zones. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., at a separate Armed Services Committee hearing, pressed Defense Secretary Hegseth on the cost of caring for combat-wounded veterans, winning Hegseth's stated support for the Major Richard Star Act — legislation Senate Republican leadership has blocked twice.

The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais — striking down a majority-Black congressional district and significantly narrowing Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — landed Wednesday and drew near-simultaneous statements from three Democratic senators.

"By restricting Americans' ability to choose candidates that represent their communities, the Supreme Court has told the nation that some voices and votes are worth less than others," said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Coons tied the ruling to legislative fights, citing Republican efforts to pass "the SAVE America Act, which will restrict voting by mail and throw our elections into chaos."

Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., invoked the arc of the civil rights era: "For over 60 years, the Voting Rights Act has been a symbol of a democracy inclusive of all Americans, representing the sacrifices made by Black civil rights activists for the right to vote. Yet, the Supreme Court has been systematically chipping away at that progress, dragging us backward."

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., was the most spare: "John Lewis was beaten with clubs wrapped in barbed wire on the Edmund Pettus Bridge fighting for voting rights. Today's SCOTUS decision takes the sacrifice and fight of all who marched before us and throws it away."

Eight Democratic senators sent a letter Wednesday to Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh demanding he clarify apparent contradictions between his April 21 Banking Committee testimony and public statements from President Trump about Warsh's commitment to cutting interest rates.

The letter, led by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., and Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., also signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Blunt Rochester, laid out the conflict directly: "Ultimately, your claim that you 'never said to the President where [you] think rates should be' and your comment that the President 'never generally or specifically instructed' you regarding committing to an interest rate path appear to directly contradict President Trump."

The senators quoted Trump's reported Wall Street Journal statement — that Warsh "understands that he wants him to lower interest rates" and that if Warsh had said otherwise, he "would not have gotten the job" — and asked Warsh to explain the discrepancy. "How President Trump managed to secure that assurance without 'generally…suggest[ing]' that you should 'commit to any interest rate path' in at least some way is hard to understand," the senators wrote. The letter asked Warsh directly: "Was President Trump telling the truth, or lying, to the Wall Street Journal?"

Colorado's two Democratic senators introduced legislation Wednesday that would allow Congress to override a presidential denial of federal disaster relief funding. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper said the bill responds directly to President Trump's rejection of Colorado's disaster requests following the Lee and Elk Fires and Southwest Colorado flooding in 2025. "Disasters don't care about state lines or politics, and neither should our President's response," said Bennet. Hickenlooper added: "The president is putting politics over Americans in crisis. We have to fight for a way forward."

Separately, the House passed by voice vote the bipartisan Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act, co-led in the Senate by Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. The bill provides tax relief for victims of federally declared disasters including hurricanes and wildfires and extends victims' ability to make tax-deductible payments from wildfire settlements through January 1, 2027. "Surviving a natural disaster can place an enormous financial burden on families. That's why it's critical we support victims of devastating disasters like the wildfires in California and across the country," said Schiff.

At an Environment and Public Works Committee hearing Wednesday, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., extracted a commitment from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to provide the committee with documentation of individualized reviews of hundreds of Congressionally appropriated grants that EPA terminated — grants a federal court found EPA had failed to document.

Schiff pressed Zeldin on a ruling by Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court in South Carolina, who found that EPA "failed to produce a single document showing any individualized review of plaintiffs' grants." Zeldin maintained he stood by his prior testimony "1,000%" and that individual reviews took place. When Schiff asked whether documentation would be provided to the committee, Zeldin replied: "Sure."

Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., also challenged Zeldin at the hearing, focusing on the proposed elimination of Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund funding. "Your agency estimates a funding gap of $625 billion over the next two decades. For drinking water infrastructure alone, wastewater adds another $271 billion and in my small state, we could lose $90 million in cuts to SRFs. States really can't afford this," Blunt Rochester said. Zeldin responded that the agency would "work closely" with members.

The Senate passed two bipartisan measures Wednesday. The Protect Infant Formula from Contamination Act, led by Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., passed unanimously, requiring manufacturers to notify the FDA within one business day of detecting contamination and mandating quarterly monitoring of in-stock rates. "Infant formula needs to be safe and readily available for American families who rely on this vital product to feed their children," Hoeven said.

Also passing unanimously: the Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Peters, closing loopholes that have left federal contractor employees exposed to retaliation for reporting fraud and abuse. "Whistleblowers working for federal contractors and subcontractors shouldn't face retaliation for sounding the alarm on waste, fraud and abuse," Grassley said. The Cornyn-Padilla Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act also cleared the Senate unanimously, shielding U.S. companies from enforcement of Russian court judgments stemming from compliance with post-invasion sanctions.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Grassley, advanced four federal judges, a U.S. marshal, and a U.S. attorney Wednesday, along with two bipartisan bills: the Federal Carjacking Enforcement Act and the GUARD Act protecting children from AI chatbots, which passed 22-0. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who co-authored the GUARD Act with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said at the markup: "This issue is a matter of life or death."

Budget hearings dominated Wednesday's committee calendar. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., the Energy and Natural Resources Committee's ranking member, opened a hearing on the Interior Department's FY2027 request by assailing proposed National Park Service staff cuts: "This budget would decimate the management of our national parks and monuments... this administration does not prioritize our national parks, our public lands; does not care about remembering and telling our nation's history; does not value our wildlife; and does not prioritize our Tribal communities."

At the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, pressed for the Pentagon to pass a clean financial audit, citing her RECEIPTS Act. Secretary Hegseth committed that passing a clean audit by Fiscal Year 2028 is "a priority for the department" and "a focus" throughout the budget. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., grilled Hegseth over $400 million Congress appropriated for Ukraine security assistance with no detailed spend plan delivered to Congress. "When can we expect the full spend plan for this appropriation?" Shaheen asked. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told Shaheen he would follow up by day's end.

Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., meanwhile, highlighted a report estimating that the White House's proposed 12% cut to NIH funding in Colorado alone could cost 837 jobs and $200 million in economic activity. "This administration's relentless attacks on science put those breakthroughs and the patients waiting for them in danger," Hickenlooper said.

The House passed the fiscal year 2026 Department of Homeland Security funding bill Wednesday, ending what Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called "a 76-day Democrat shutdown." Cotton's statement was blunt: "Democrats closed the Department of Homeland Security for 76 days and achieved nothing. They wanted to defund ICE and border patrol, but their plan backfired. Republicans will now supercharge ICE and border patrol funding without a single Democrat vote."

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, framed the same vote as a bipartisan win for constituents: "For Hawai'i, this will ensure FEMA disaster recovery support and other federal resources for communities impacted by the recent storms will continue without interruption. It's also a reminder that when both parties choose to work together, Congress can keep critical services funded and functioning."

In an op-ed published Wednesday in the New York Post, Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., announced he is introducing the Unlock American Energy and Jobs Act, describing "$1.5 trillion in critical infrastructure" frozen in permitting delays and arguing that "it takes longer to permit a power plant — five years — than it took us to win World War II." The bill targets Clean Water Act veto use on energy projects, LNG export approvals, nuclear licensing, and environmental litigation.

At the EPA budget hearing, Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., challenged Democratic claims about renewable energy costs, prompting EPA Administrator Zeldin to say: "Senator it is not a coincidence that the 10 states that have the cheapest rates across the country voted for President Trump, and nine of the 10 with the highest rates voted for Kamala Harris."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced the No FED in West Texas Act to block any future administration from reviving a Biden-era Fish and Wildlife Service plan that Cruz said would have allowed federal acquisition of up to 700,000 acres in Texas. "West Texas is vital to economic growth and energy for Texans, and decisions about its land should belong to Texans, not Washington bureaucrats," Cruz said.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., introduced the bipartisan Medication Competition Act Wednesday, targeting a loophole that keeps exclusivity periods for biologic drugs secret from potential generic competitors. Of the more than 200 currently approved biologic drugs, the release notes only three have publicly listed exclusivity periods. "Big Pharma benefits from a loophole in federal law where it can keep the exclusivity dates on certain prescription drugs secret, making it harder for competitors to enter the market," Hassan said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., separately posted a video Wednesday disputing a Trump administration claim that a program called TrumpRx is "lowering drug costs by 600%," describing her own attempt to test the assertion. Warren also announced she is blocking a Republican bill she characterized as funding construction of "Donald Trump's ballroom," arguing that "instead of rubber-stamping Trump's gold-encrusted ballroom, Congress must lower costs for American families."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, issued three near-simultaneous press releases Wednesday announcing a combined $7.9 million in federal DNA testing backlog grants to Texas jurisdictions — Dallas County, Tarrant County, Fort Worth, UNT Health Fort Worth, the Houston Forensic Science Center, Harris County, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. All three releases cited Cornyn's Debbie Smith Act as the authorizing legislation and used identical quote language.

"Physical and scientific evidence, such as DNA testing, is one of the strongest tools prosecutors have to deliver justice for crime victims," Cornyn said in each release. "Thanks to my Debbie Smith Act, we've made substantial progress in reducing the rape kit and forensic testing backlog, and these resources will build on that success by continuing to close the gap and hold perpetrators accountable."

Signals

• volumeToday's 66 releases run 39% below the Wednesday baseline of 108.2, the lowest relative volume in the tracked period — five days before the Early May state work period recess.
• voteA procedural vote on Sen. Schiff's War Powers Resolution is scheduled for Thursday, April 30 — the exact 60th day of the Iran conflict under the War Powers Act clock.
• coordinatedThree Democratic senators — Coons, Blunt Rochester, and Alsobrooks — each issued independent statements on the Louisiana v. Callais voting rights ruling within approximately two hours of the decision, a tight response window suggesting pre-positioned messaging.
• coordinatedSen. Cornyn issued three nearly identical DNA backlog grant announcements within five minutes across two releases (15:59 and 16:04), a volume and format pattern consistent with a coordinated grant rollout.
• silent breaksSen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., silent for 23 days, appeared as a signatory on the Warsh interest-rate letter but has not issued an independent press release in over three weeks.
• recessThe Early May state work period begins in five days; today's low volume (39% below baseline) may reflect pre-recess wind-down.

Quiet desks

Senators with no release in two weeks or more.

• Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-OK—
• Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY58d
• Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC42d
• Sen. Ron Johnson, R-WI36d
• Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-NY15d