Could the U.S. Congress allow Trump to continue the war against Iran?

Senate Republicans are deeply divided over how to handle an expected request from President Trump to fund the military conflict with Iran, which some GOP lawmakers worry has no end in sight, ‘The Hill’ reveals.

Several Republican senators are talking with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) about crafting a resolution to authorize military force against Iran beyond the 60- to 90-day period set by the 1973 War Powers Act to respond to national security threats without congressional authorization. 

They believe Congress needs to authorize the fight beyond the end of May, which they view as a prerequisite to approving tens of billions of dollars in new funding for the war.

And they want the White House to provide much more information about its strategic goals and plans for eventually ending the conflict before agreeing to another big tranche of funding.

Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) said the White House needs to fulfill a “long list” of requirements before he votes to authorize the war beyond the window established by the War Powers Act.

Curtis said he wants to know more about the administration’s “goals, objectives and strategies” for conducting and eventually ending the conflict.

And he warned that deploying a large contingent of ground troops to Iran — aside from operations to rescue downed pilots — would be a mistake.

“As far as a large force, that would not be a place I would want to go,” he said.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he’s “getting close” to the internal discussion about the need for Congress to vote on a war powers resolution to authorize an extended conflict with Iran.

He argued that a war authorization passed by Congress could give Trump more leverage in peace talks with Iran by showing that the military operations have strong support on Capitol Hill, despite polls showing the war is unpopular with regular Americans.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is pushing back on calls from GOP colleagues that Congress needs to vote to authorize the war if it is likely to stretch beyond 90 days.

“I think at this point, most of us — I believe — feel pretty good about what the American military has achieved there in terms of its objectives,” he said, calling a vote on an authorization “a hypothetical down the road.”

He noted the Senate will vote again on war powers resolutions sponsored by Democrats to halt military action, something GOP senators have already defeated three times.

But he expressed hope the conflict will end before the 90-day deadline set by the War Powers Act.

Republicans working on legislation to authorize the use of military force against Iran say the resolution is privileged and could pass the Senate with a simple-majority vote, avoiding a filibuster.

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