Senate moves to challenge Trump’s Iran military authority veto on Thursday

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The Senate leadership will try to overturn a resolution vetoed by Trump that restricts his power to respond against Iran.
• Trump lashes out the lower chamber, saying that the resolution was only an attempt to divide the Republicans as the election period comes to a close.
• Senate is expected to force the veto vote on the resolution’s nullity.

On Thursday, the Senate will try to overrule Trump’s veto of a resolution that limits his authority to force military response against Iran even absent with congressional consensus.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said on Wednesday that the upper House would hold a session at 1:30 p.m to vote and override an earlier resolution made by Congress.

It’s anticipated, though, that they will be short with numbers on the two-thirds support required to nullify Trump’s veto successfully.

The response by the Senate was following Trump’s vetoing of a resolution and calling out the  Congress, commenting that the lower chamber would have never passed the bill.

In a statement, President Donald Trump said the resolution was insulting, and it was only the Democrat’s attempt to divide the Republicans as the November 3 election draws nearer. Trump noted that Dems lawmaker was able to pursue some Republicans to vote in favor of the resolution.

Headed by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., the resolution says that it will compel the president to withdraw all U.S. troops from any opposition versus Iran in a period 30 days except if he gets congressional authorization for any military action.

Kain appealed to his colleagues on Wednesday, and through a written statement, he said other lawmakers should vote in favor of overriding the veto. He also noted that the government should not endanger the lives of the U.S troops by deploying them in a war unless Congress decides that there is one. 

It was in February that the Senate primarily pushed the resolution with a 55-45 vote, including eight Republican senators who are in favor.

Around March, the resolution was passed in the Lower House and got a 227-186 vote, considered to be one of the last order of business in the Congress before representatives went left the Capitol amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

Democrats now had sworn to pressure a votation for the resolution, citing the War Powers Act, following an earlier United States defense response airstrike that claimed the life of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

The incident started a few days of heightened conflict between Washington and Tehran.

Source: The Hill