US Senate votes to end Iran war in rebuke to Trump

The Republican-led Senate voted for the first time to end the US war with Iran, breaking with President Donald Trump on an unpopular foreign conflict that has raised Americans’ cost of living, roiled markets and caused global economic fallout.

The practical impact of the 50-48 vote on Tuesday is unclear, since the president has reached an interim peace deal with Iran, and the resolution invokes a legally controversial congressional authority stemming from the 1973 War Powers Act.

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Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted with Democrats for the measure. Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman opposed it.

Two Republicans who have previously supported the war – Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and David McCormick of Pennsylvania – did not vote.

The resolution, already approved by the House, requires the US to cease hostilities against Iran unless Congress votes to authorise further attacks.

The 1973 law doesn’t allow the president to veto the resolution.

Any effort to enforce that restriction on the president would likely face legal challenges. Still, the congressional vote clearly signals to a global audience that the president lacks domestic backing for continuing the conflict.

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Americans overwhelmingly oppose the war, with 69% saying it was not worth the cost in a CBS News poll released Sunday. An even larger 78% said the US should end the conflict “now”.

The national average price for regular gasoline soared as high as $4.56 a gallon as Iran moved to restrict shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and is still running almost a dollar a gallon higher than on the eve of the war, according to the American Automobile Association.

Americans have paid roughly $62 billion more for gasoline and diesel, or about $460 per household, since the conflict began as a result of higher prices at the pump, according to the Iran War Energy Cost Tracker from Brown University.

The overall inflation rate climbed to 4.2% in May, the highest level since early 2023.

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