Senate Rejects Measure to Restrict Iran War Hours Before Key Legal Deadline

The Senate on Thursday rejected a Democratic-led effort to force the removal of U.S. forces from Iran, turning back a War Powers Resolution just one day before a critical legal deadline that even some Republicans acknowledge amounts to a binding constraint on President Donald Trump’s authority.The procedural measure failed 47 to 50, with Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky the only Republicans breaking with their party as Congress again declined to assert its authority over a war that has entered its eighth week without formal approval. Significantly, it was the first time Collins had voted for such a measure, making her the first Republican to do so since the war began in late February. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania continued to be the lone Democrat voting against the resolution.The vote came on the eve of a May 1 deadline that carries unusual legal weight under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, a statute enacted in the aftermath of the Vietnam War to restrain unilateral presidential military action. Under the law, a president who “introduces U.S. forces into hostilities” must terminate those operations within 60 days unless Congress declares war or passes an authorization for the use