By Solange Reyner | Friday, 01 May 2026 07:13 PM EDT
Patience regarding the war in Iran is wearing thin among some Republicans.
While the administration may point to ongoing negotiations, events on the ground and the rhetoric coming out of Tehran tell a different story, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said.
Murkowski, who plans to introduce an authorization for the use of military force that she described as both an authorization and a limit, stated it was time for Congress to assert its authority over the war.
“I do not accept that we should engage in open-ended military action without clear direction or accountability,” she said on the Senate floor Thursday. “Congress has a role. Congress has to step up and fulfill that role, that obligation that the Constitution assigns to us.”
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine broke rank with Republican leaders by voting for a war powers resolution sponsored by Sen. Adam Schiff of California.
“The 60-day trigger is a very important one,” Collins said this week. “At that point, Congress has to authorize the military action to continue. There’s a 30-day period where you could wind it down. And I will not support extending the hostilities beyond that 60 days except for wind-down activities.”
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri indicated he may soon consider supporting a war powers resolution depending on what the Trump administration does next.
“I would hope it wouldn’t come to that,” Hawley said.
He also noted that Senate leaders denying a vote on an authorization for the use of military force might push him closer to backing a war powers vote.
“We’d have to look at one of these resolutions,” Hawley added.
Republican Sens. John Curtis of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina have indicated they would eventually like to see a vote to authorize force in Iran.
Curtis said he would not support continued funding for the war until Congress votes to authorize it.
“It is time for decision-making from both the administration and from Congress — and that can happen in league with one another, not in conflict,” Curtis said.
President Donald Trump stated Friday he will not seek congressional authorization for the conflict with Iran as required by the War Powers Act because “it’s unconstitutional.”
