Senate Dems block Trump’s defense bill in protest to Iran war
US Senate Democrats blocked a $1.15 trillion Pentagon policy bill on Tuesday, as the sprawling legislation became a casualty in the monthslong fight to rein in President Donald Trump on Iran. The National Defense Authorization Act fell well short of the 60 votes needed to advance to the Senate floor. The 50-46 procedural vote saw every Democrat present oppose the bill.
The move is a blow to Republicans who had sought to deliver on Trump’s record-shattering defense budget ambitions — using a bill that is one of the few measures that reliably becomes law each year. But Democrats had long signaled that they won’t support the Pentagon legislation without guardrails on Trump, most notably on the Iran war.
Democratic members of the US Congress have recently denounced any renewed war against Iran as unconstitutional, warning that Trump's repeated pursuit of an "unauthorized war" with the Islamic Republic would be an outright catastrophe.
They sharply criticized Trump on Monday, accusing him of bypassing constitutional limits on presidential war powers, misleading the public about the status of military action against Iran, and attempting to continue the war without proper congressional authorization.
The criticism came after Trump formally notified Congress this weekend that the US is once again at war with Iran.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer denounced the renewed military offensive against Iran, writing on X that Trump “must comply” with votes passed by both the House and Senate “to remove our forces from harm’s way and end this war now.”
“Donald Trump's so-called ‘understanding’ with Iran fell apart faster than the ink could dry. The House and Senate both voted to remove our forces from harm’s way and end this war now. Trump must comply. Enough is enough. End the war,” he said.