The Senate advanced legislation Tuesday that seeks to force President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iran war, as a growing number of Republicans defied the president’s wishes.
Since Trump ordered the attack on Iran at the end of February, Democrats have forced repeated votes on war powers resolutions that would require him to either gain congressional approval for the war or withdraw troops. Republicans had been able to muster the votes to reject those proposals, but Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy — fresh off a primary election loss in which Trump endorsed his opponent — switched sides to deliver a crucial vote to advance the legislation.
The 50-47 vote tally demonstrated the small but crucial number of Republicans voting to halt the war with Iran. The legislation will get a vote on final passage, but the timing was not immediately clear. There were also Republican Senate absences Tuesday that would be enough to defeat it, if those lawmakers maintained their stance on the war.
Still, the vote showed how Republicans are increasingly uneasy with a conflict that is in a fragile ceasefire and has caused rising gas prices in the U.S.
Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska had all previously voted for similar war powers resolutions and did so again Tuesday. Cassidy voted for the legislation for the first time.
After his primary election loss last week, Cassidy returned to Washington saying that he was proud of his work to uphold the Constitution and would carefully consider how he would vote on several priorities of the Trump administration.
Just highlights that these people don’t normally vote with thier constituents in mind. Dude flipped like a switch.
True, and I’ll take it. However it happened, let it keep happening. I hope he continues voting against everything trump wants and against every trump nominee for anything, and do anything he can do to stymie that pig. And I hope the other repubs trump has successfully primaried out will do the same. Plus there’s more primaries today and more trump revenge endorsements against the incumbents, so those numbers may increase. Let’s go.
Agreed
Sure sounds like he was voting to make his constituents happy instead of what he thought was best for them.
The disconnect there is why we’re supposed to have a representative democracy instead of a direct democracy.
Yet another Republican suddenly finds his conscience once he’s a lame duck/out of office.
('Course, this one sounds like it might be more due to spite anyway.)
Not to praise a republican, but a wake-up call style “oh I’ve been voted out, okay, let’s listen to the people and do in my leftover days what they want me to do” would usually mean a level of self-reflection.
Not in this case, because here it’s obvious he doesn’t give a flying pigeon shit about his constituents, but at last a politician realising just a smidge too late that they were wrong is still better than a headstrong one eho refuses to see reality even on the way out.
The fact that Trump can simply veto any law that limits his ability to wreak havoc on the world, means that anything less than impeachment and removal from office, is utterly pointless.
Funny how these Republicans can only (sometimes) do the right thing once they’re no longer running for reelection.
And not just this one. It’s a very predictable repeating pattern. If a Republican crosses the aisle to do the right thing, 9/10 times, you can bet you’ll find out they’re not running for reelection next time (or their campaign has already failed).
I wonder what the DOJ will start “investigating” him for tomorrow.
What a winning smile! Go play with Uncle What’s-His-Name kids! He likes to watch you workout!
Spite > loyalty > ethics
We’ve finally seen what’s more powerful than their idolatry.
so he views his vote on this not as a matter deeply affecting the lives of millions of people around the world, but as a bargaining chip he can leverage for personal gain, or in spite of personal loss
Fucking scum. Only chooses to follow the Constitution and will of the people when he knows he has nothing left to lose. Absolute slimy garbage politicans.
What’s that colloquialism about the hit dog?
