The United States Senate on Tuesday approved a concurrent resolution directing President Donald Trump to remove American armed forces from hostilities against Iran, the first time both chambers of Congress have passed such a measure under the 1973 War Powers Act. The 50-48 vote, which followed House passage earlier this month, saw four Republican senators — Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Bill Cassidy — join nearly all Democrats in support, while Democratic Senator John Fetterman opposed and the absence of two Republicans proved decisive. The resolution does not require the president’s signature and carries disputed legal weight, but its adoption sends an unmistakable political signal of congressional unease over a conflict that began with US and Israeli strikes on 28 February.

Viewed from Washington, the White House dismissed the vote as inconsequential, arguing that hostilities ceased with the 7 April ceasefire and that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional. Trump, in a Truth Social post, called the resolution “poorly timed and meaningless” and accused the senators of providing “aid and comfort to the enemy.” Democratic leaders framed the vote as a constitutional corrective; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer described the war as “one of the worst foreign policy forays America has ever made.” Within the Republican Party, the defections exposed fissures over both the war’s cost and the terms of the preliminary memorandum of understanding (MoU) Trump signed with Iran last week. From Tehran, Iranian officials publicly contradicted Trump’s assertions that the MoU commits Iran to open-ended nuclear inspections and restricts unfrozen assets to purchases of US agricultural goods. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei stated that Iran would use its funds “freely” and denied any agreement on inspections of damaged nuclear sites.

The vote unfolded as oil markets continued to shed the war premium that had pushed Brent crude above $120 per barrel. Prices fell further on Wednesday, with Brent trading below $77, as ship-tracking data showed a gradual increase in tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz following the US Treasury’s issuance of a 60-day licence allowing Iranian oil sales. Analysts in London and Tokyo noted that the market remains sceptical, with the durability of the ceasefire tied to progress in Swiss-mediated talks on a final accord. The Pentagon’s request for $80 billion in supplemental war funding, meanwhile, has sharpened congressional scrutiny of the administration’s strategy ahead of November’s midterm elections, where Republican control of both chambers is at stake.

Under the US Constitution, the power to declare war rests with Congress, but presidents of both parties have long contested the War Powers Act’s constraints. Legal experts at the Brookings Institution note that the resolution’s enforceability is likely to be tested in court, as the executive branch may ignore it on constitutional grounds. The concurrent resolution mechanism, designed as a legislative check, has never before been successfully invoked to end a military operation. With the 60-day MoU clock ticking, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is touring Gulf capitals to reassure allies that Washington will not permit Iran to impose transit fees in Hormuz, while Oman and Iran have begun discussions on the strait’s future administration. The next round of technical negotiations in Switzerland is expected to address nuclear verification and sanctions relief, though the conflicting public claims from Washington and Tehran underscore the fragility of the process.