Reed Votes to End Iran War as Senate Republicans Allow Trump to Widen Conflict & Continue Bombing with No Coherent Strategy

WASHINGTON, DC -- As President Trump intensifies his bombing campaign against Iran and continues raising prices on American consumers, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today voted once again for a war powers resolution to end the unauthorized war in Iran. The U.S. Senate voted 47-49 on its war powers resolution that was not agreed to. Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 214-208 to pass a different war powers resolution to restrain President Trump’s military action in Iran . Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee who has opposed the war from the start, supports an end to the war and noted that Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war, as spelled out in the Constitution. Senator Reed also pointed to public reports that U.S. Intelligence has widely held that the kind of bombing the Trump Administration is currently carrying out is unlikely to shift Iran's negotiating position . “The American people do not want a costly, reckless, endless war. Still, President Trump continues to try and bomb his way to peace. Senate Republicans are shielding him from accountability and allowing him to escalate military action without a complimentary diplomatic, economic, or political strategy. President Trump started this war on his own, without a plan, and now gas prices are over $4 once again. Trump continues to squander U.S. resources, miscalculate Iranian resilience, and double down on an ineffective strategy that our own Intelligence Community agrees is unlikely to change the tide of this conflict. Every day President Trump’s unauthorized war of choice continues, it makes everyday items more expensive for the American people, weakens the U.S. economy, and fails to make America more secure. None of the goals President Trump used as a pre-text for this war have been accomplished, but the formerly open Strait of Hormuz is now effectively closed. It seems President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are only now just learning that military supremacy without a competent strategy and robust diplomatic engagement does not translate to victory. That is another stunning indictment of their poor judgement and lack of civilian leadership. Today, in the Senate and the House, members of Congress across the political spectrum rebuked President Trump and sent a signal that this Administration must change course,” said Senator Reed. Today's vote comes 145 days after President Trump hastily launched Operation Epic Fury. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 sets a 60-day limit on unauthorized military hostilities, unless Congress votes to authorize military force, with an extra 30-day grace period if the president determines more time is necessary to safely withdraw U.S. forces. Today’s war powers vote also comes after President Trump vowed on social media: “any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz… the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT.” With seemingly no effort toward diplomatic progress, President Trump continues to order a series of costly kinetic strikes and counterstrikes with Iran, which is targeting U.S. bases and causing regional turmoil in the Middle East. The escalated strikes have not shifted the balance of power, but leave the Strait of Hormuz in a state of heightened peril and pushes up the price of oil, which has increased 30 percent over the last year. “President Trump keeps claiming he will make Iran pay. But as with his tariffs, he is really forcing Americans to pay higher costs,” noted Reed. “Given that President Trump has no endgame and has not achieved the stated objectives he used as a pretext for war, Americans are right to be skeptical of simply throwing more money and military weapons at the problem. The Trump Administration must be more transparent with the American people about the facts of this war. I will not hand the president a blank check to fund it.”