Representative Chris Smith blocks Democrats' Iran war powers resolution in pro forma session
House Republican ended session before Democrats could vote to end U.S. attacks on Iran
Senate Democrats forced a fourth vote on a war powers resolution to end U.S. military operations against Iran on April 13, 2026, the day the Senate returned from a two-week Easter and Passover recess. The resolution — H.Con.Res.38 in the Senate — directed President Trump to remove U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in Iran under section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution. The resolution failed again, blocked by Senate Republicans with one Democratic crossover: Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) voted against it, as he had on previous attempts.
The lone Republican to support the resolution was Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who has consistently backed congressional war authorization across parties and presidents. The April 13 vote came hours after CENTCOM announced the start of a naval blockade of Iranian ports — a new escalation that Democrats argued made the need for congressional authorization more urgent, not less. PBS NewsHour Time
Key Concepts
Essential concepts and terms to understand this topic
Concurrent Resolution
A congressional resolution passed by both chambers but not signed by the president, used for internal congressional business and some procedural matters.
Authorization for Use of Military Force
A congressional resolution that authorizes the president to use military force for a specific purpose.
War Powers Resolution
A 1973 statute requiring the President to notify Congress of troop deployments and limiting combat operations to 60 days without congressional authorization.
Unanimous Consent
A legislative procedure that allows a bill or motion to pass instantly if no member of the chamber objects.
Key People
12CS
Chuck Schumer
Senate Minority Leader (D-NY)
Announced the fourth war powers resolution vote on April 8 and forced the floor vote when the Senate returned April 13. Called Trump a 'military moron' and the Iran war 'one of the very worst military and foreign policy actions the United States has ever taken.' Led Democratic strategy to use the 60-day clock deadline as political pressure on swing-state Republicans.
Tim Kaine
U.S. Senator (D-VA)
Co-sponsored H.Con.Res.38 in the Senate and has been the principal legislative architect of the war powers effort since the Iran conflict began. Kaine has introduced war powers resolutions on military conflicts since the Obama administration and brings a deep knowledge of the statute. Issued a joint press release with Schumer and Schiff announcing the April 13 vote.
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Adam Schiff
U.S. Senator (D-CA)
Co-sponsored the Senate war powers resolution and issued a joint statement with Kaine and Schumer condemning its defeat. Schiff served as House Intelligence Committee Chair before moving to the Senate and has been outspoken about presidential war power overreach. His press office published video of the blocked vote.
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Chris Murphy
U.S. Senator (D-CT)
Co-sponsored the war powers resolution and issued a joint press statement with Senate Democratic leadership after the vote failed. Murphy has consistently argued that Trump's Iran war is unauthorized and that congressional abdication on war powers sets a dangerous precedent for every future president regardless of party.
John Fetterman
U.S. Senator (D-PA)
Announced on April 9 that he would again vote against the war powers resolution, saying 'We have to stand [with] our military to allow them to accomplish the goals of Epic Fury.' Fetterman cited his support for Israel and the U.S. military as the basis for backing Trump's Iran campaign. He is the only Democrat to have voted against every Senate war powers resolution on Iran.
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Rand Paul
U.S. Senator (R-KY)
The only Republican to vote for the war powers resolution on April 13, as he had on every previous Iran war powers vote. Paul argues on constitutional libertarian grounds that the Founders required congressional declarations of war precisely to prevent unilateral executive military action. His consistent cross-aisle vote has prevented Democrats from reaching the majority threshold they need.
Hakeem Jeffries
House Minority Leader (D-NY)
Announced the House's planned April 14 war powers vote in a letter to Democratic colleagues criticizing Trump's management of the Iran conflict. Jeffries said Democrats had 'demanded that the House come back into session immediately' to vote on ending the war. His office coordinated strategy with Greg Meeks on H.Con.Res.40.
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Greg Meeks
House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member (D-NY)
Introduced H.Con.Res.40 in the House — the war powers resolution directing Trump to remove U.S. forces from Iran. Delivered floor remarks during debate on the resolution. The House version mirrors the Senate text but must pass both chambers to take effect. Meeks has argued the resolution doesn't require a two-thirds veto-proof majority because the War Powers Resolution was specifically designed to work through concurrent resolution.
Glenn Ivey
U.S. Representative (D-MD)
Attempted on April 9 to pass H.Con.Res.40 by unanimous consent during the House pro forma session. When Speaker Pro Tempore Chris Smith refused to recognize him, Ivey demanded the floor as Democrats shouted. His attempt was the most recent in a pattern of Democrats using pro forma sessions to try to force votes while members are away.
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Chris Smith
U.S. Representative (R-NJ), Speaker Pro Tempore
Presided over the April 9 pro forma House session as Speaker Pro Tempore. Did not recognize Rep. Glenn Ivey's unanimous consent request on the war powers resolution and gaveled the session closed while Democrats protested. As the presiding officer, Smith had discretion to recognize or ignore the request — he chose not to recognize it.
Susan Collins
U.S. Senator (R-ME)
Voted against the war powers resolution on April 13, citing her belief that the measure would send the wrong message to Iran and to U.S. troops. But Collins had previously stated that if 'boots on the ground' were committed or military hostilities lasted 60 days or more, she believed congressional authorization was 'completely required' under the War Powers Act. The April 28 deadline puts Collins in direct tension with her own stated standard — a political vulnerability Democrats have targeted in her 2026 reelection campaign, with polling showing 58% of Mainers opposing the Iran strikes.
Cory Booker
U.S. Senator (D-NJ)
Among the 12 senators who signed a joint letter to Trump in March 2026 warning that the War Powers Resolution 60-day clock created a legal obligation to seek congressional authorization or withdraw forces from Iran. Booker has consistently argued that Congress's repeated failure to enforce the resolution risks permanently ceding war authorization power to the executive branch, regardless of which party holds the White House in future administrations.
Claims & Perspectives
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No president has ever complied with a congressional directive to withdraw forces under the War Powers Resolution.
Since 1973, every president from Ford to Biden has either received retroactive congressional authorization, claimed the conflict ended within 60 days, or continued operations past the deadline without enforcement. No court has ever ordered compliance, and Congress has never enforced the resolution by cutting off funds. The pattern runs across both parties. Reagan deployed Marines to Lebanon in 1982 and negotiated an 18-month authorization from Congress, but continued past it until a Marine barracks bombing killed 241 service members in 1983. Clinton waged a 78-day air campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999 without authorization — Congress actually voted down a declaration of war while bombing continued. Obama intervened in Libya in 2011, claiming the conflict didn't rise to the level of 'hostilities' requiring authorization even as U.S. aircraft flew combat missions for months. In each case, the president found a legal theory, a workaround, or a political fait accompli. Trump has now added a naval blockade to the list of unilateral actions taken without congressional authorization.
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This was the fourth Senate war powers vote on Iran since the conflict began.
Stars and Stripes confirmed the March 24 vote was the third attempt. The April 13 vote is the fourth. Each attempt failed by a similar margin with Fetterman (D-PA) the sole Democratic no vote and Paul (R-KY) the sole Republican yes vote. The consistency of the vote count — 47 yes, 53 no, across four separate attempts — reflects a stable Senate arithmetic that Democrats have been unable to break. Democrats need 51 votes for a simple majority. With 47 reliable yes votes (46 Democrats plus Paul), they need four Republican crossovers, and none have materialized. The naval blockade launched on April 13 may change the political calculus: it constitutes a new and arguably more significant use of force than the air strikes that triggered the original votes.
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John Fetterman is the only Democrat to have voted against every Senate war powers resolution on Iran.
The Hill and Benzinga both confirmed Fetterman has voted against or announced opposition to every Senate war powers resolution on Iran. Rand Paul (R-KY) has been the consistent Republican crossover vote in favor. Fetterman's votes represent a striking break from Senate Democratic unity on war powers. He cited his support for Israel and the U.S. military's goals in the Iran campaign as his reason, framing his vote as loyalty to the troops rather than to Trump. But the constitutional question isn't whether the mission is good — it's whether the president can wage war without Congress. By that standard, Fetterman's reasoning conflates mission support with war authorization in a way that constitutional scholars say gets the analysis backwards: Congress can support a mission and still require the president to ask for a formal vote.
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The War Powers Resolution 60-day clock expires around April 28.
Trump filed his War Powers Resolution notification with Congress on March 2, 2026. The 60-day clock under 50 U.S.C. § 1544(b) runs from that date, expiring approximately April 30 at the latest (adding the 48-hour initial notification window). Most sources cite April 28. Once the clock expires, the resolution's text requires the president to begin withdrawing forces within 30 additional days — unless Congress authorizes the conflict. But this deadline has no automatic enforcement mechanism. The Senate would need to act to cut off funding or otherwise compel compliance, and Senate Republicans have the votes to block both paths. Sen. Susan Collins had publicly stated that hostilities lasting 60 days would require congressional authorization in her view — but Collins voted no on April 13 with the deadline approaching. The naval blockade begun on April 13 also complicates the timeline: it may constitute a separate use of force, potentially starting its own 60-day clock.
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On April 9, Rep. Chris Smith blocked the Democratic unanimous consent attempt on the war powers resolution.
The Hill confirmed that Speaker Pro Tempore Chris Smith (R-NJ) presided over the April 9 pro forma session, did not recognize Rep. Glenn Ivey's unanimous consent request, and gaveled the session closed while Democrats protested. Pro forma sessions are brief, largely ceremonial meetings that prevent Congress from going into formal recess — which would trigger the Constitution's recess appointment rules. Unanimous consent requires that not a single member object. The presiding officer has substantial discretion to recognize or ignore requests. Smith's refusal to recognize Ivey was a parliamentary decision, not a violation of House rules — but it effectively used the form of a legislative session to block a substantive vote, a tactic Democrats called an outrage and a deliberate suppression of the war powers debate.
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House Democrats delayed their war powers vote until mid-April to pick up Republican crossover votes.
Axios reported in late March that House Democratic leaders strategically delayed the vote, believing the balance was shifting after moderate Republicans spent recess at home hearing from constituents about the war's costs. The House previously voted 212-219 against the war powers resolution in March. Democrats needed to flip at least four Republican votes. Moderate Republicans in swing districts — particularly those representing suburban communities with high military family populations and small-business owners exposed to tariff-driven inflation — were identified as potential targets. The recess gave those members two weeks at home to hear directly from constituents before a nationally watched war powers vote. Whether the calculation paid off would be determined on April 14.
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The INS v. Chadha decision raised questions about whether a concurrent resolution can constitutionally compel executive action.
The 1983 Supreme Court decision in INS v. Chadha ruled that legislative vetoes — congressional actions that override executive decisions without full bicameral passage and presidential signature — are unconstitutional. Because the War Powers Resolution's withdrawal mechanism uses a concurrent resolution rather than a law, it raises unresolved questions about whether it would survive a Chadha challenge. No court has directly ruled on this question in the war powers context. The Framers who wrote the War Powers Resolution in 1973 deliberately chose a concurrent resolution precisely because it can't be vetoed — they wanted a withdrawal mechanism the president couldn't block. But Chadha, decided a decade later, created a legal tension: if congressional actions that bypass the president are unconstitutional, then the resolution's veto-proof withdrawal mechanism may itself be unconstitutional. This paradox has never been resolved. It means that the War Powers Resolution may have two interlocking defects: presidents ignore it anyway, and even if they didn't, a president could potentially challenge the concurrent resolution mechanism in court and win.
What you can do
Call your senator about the April 28 War Powers deadline
civic action
The 60-day clock expires around April 28. After that, without congressional enforcement, the resolution's deadline passes without consequence. This is the last realistic window to demand your senator vote for or against authorizing the Iran war. Your call today matters more than it will on April 29.
Call your House representative before the April 14 vote
civic action
The House votes on H.Con.Res.40 on April 14 when members return from recess. Axios reported that moderate Republicans in swing districts were showing new openness to the resolution after hearing from constituents over recess. Your call before the vote — especially if you're in a competitive district — could shift a Republican vote.
Read the War Powers Resolution text and track congressional votes
civic education
The War Powers Resolution is 50 U.S.C. §§ 1541-1548 — five pages of law that presidents have ignored for 53 years. Reading the original text takes about 15 minutes and gives you the tools to evaluate every claim made about it. Congress.gov publishes roll call votes within hours of each vote.
Share the April 28 deadline with your community
civic action
Most Americans don't know the War Powers Resolution exists or that it has a 60-day deadline that expires April 28. The deadline is the single most concrete moment in a 53-year debate about presidential war power. Sharing it creates the public pressure that congressional votes alone have not.