Trump news at a glance: US Senate gives president symbolic rebuke on his military action against Iran
Four Republicans broke with their party tosupport the measure, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month – key US politics stories from Tuesday 23 June at a glance
The US Senate approved a war powers resolution preventing Donald Trump from continuing hostilities against Iran, delivering the president a significant but symbolic rebuke over a conflict that has proven unpopular with the American public.
The resolution passed by a 50-48 vote, with four Republicans – Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Rand Paul of Kentucky – breaking with their party tosupport its adoption. John Fetterman, of Pennsylvania, was the sole Democrat to vote against the resolution.
The measure, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month, would require the president to seek Congress’s authorization to use military force against Iran. It comes after Trump dispatched JD Vance to Switzerland to negotiate a settlement that would resolve the conflict the US began alongside Israel in February.
The resolution does not require the president’s signature, and Trump and his Republican allies have questioned the constitutionality of the 1973 War Powers Act under which it was passed. Nonetheless, its success underscores the discontent among Republicans over a conflict that has grown deeply unpopular with voters ahead of the November midterm elections, in which Republicans will be defending their control of Congress.
US Senate approves war powers resolution challenging Trump’s Iran war authority
The resolution’s passage in the Senate was enabled by the absences of two Republicans: Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was admitted to the hospital last week. Neither has supported previous war powers resolutions, which Democrats have been forcing votes on regularly since the war with Iran began.
Marco Rubio to meet Gulf allies amid division over US-Iran ceasefire deal
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said that no country – including Iran – would be allowed to charge tolls for shipping in the strait of Hormuz as he sought to reassure US allies in the Gulf that Washington would take a firm line in peace negotiations with Tehran.
Texas anti-ICE protesters convicted of terrorism charges sentenced to at least 50 years in prison
A group of Texas protesters convicted of terrorism charges received unusually harsh sentences of at least 50 years in prison on Tuesday in a closely watched case that was widely seen as a test case of the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on dissent.
Trump says Washington DC reflecting pool repairs may not be done in time for 4 July
Donald Trump has acknowledged that repairs to the algae-stricken reflecting pool in Washington DC may not be completed in time for the Fourth of July, when the president plans to convene a big celebration on the National Mall to ring in the country’s 250th birthday.
Man arrested near Trump’s reflecting pool plans to fight obscenity charge
A Washington DC resident arrested this week near the National Mall’s reflecting pool told the Guardian he planned to fight the charges, as Donald Trump continues to blame vandals for the botched renovation of the pool.
After the Trump administration spent $14.2m renovating the body of water in front of the Lincoln Memorial to turn it “American flag” blue in time for the US’s 250th birthday next month, the pool has been beset with algae blooms and peeling liner. Trump has claimed, without evidence, that the pool had been slashed with a knife.
New Trump appointee fires several office of director of national intelligence staff – report
Several staff members have reportedly been fired from the US office of the director of national intelligence (DNI), multiple outlets have reported. These firings come less than a week after Donald Trump appointed Bill Pulte as the acting director after former director Tulsi Gabbard left the post in late May.
What else happened today:
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A tech sell-off shook global markets on Tuesday as attention turned away from developments in the US war with Iran and toward the future of AI companies and chipmakers that have driven stock markets to record highs.
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While big tech and the Trump administration have pushed teachers to use AI and claimed it helps students learn and gives them the skills needed to succeed in a world in which the technology is ubiquitous, some parents and child development experts argue that there is little evidence that AI helps children and may even harm their cognitive development.
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The US supreme court refused on Tuesday to let a Rastafarian man sue state prison officials in Louisiana after guards held him down and shaved him bald in violation of his religious beliefs, in a landmark case.
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Eight Americans quarantined for six weeks in Nebraska after they were exposed to a deadly hantavirus outbreak were released on Monday, including one who accused the government of holding her against her will.
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Dan Goldman, a Democratic congressman from New York, has said it is “sad” that a Brooklyn coffee shop banned him over his views on Israel – a move that has put the cafe under investigation by the Trump administration’s justice department.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on Monday 22 June.
About the Author
Hard to look at 50 years and not question the official narrative.
Considering the resolution does not require the president’s signature, and Trump and his Republican allies have questioned the constitutionality of the 1973 War Powers Act under which it was passed, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
If the resolution does not require the president’s signature, and Trump and his Republican allies have questioned the constitutionality of the 1973 War Powers Act under which it was passed, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
Basically several staff members have reportedly been fired from the US office of the director of national intelligence (DNI), multiple outlets have reported. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
In other words the resolution’s passage in the Senate was enabled by the absences of two Republicans: Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was admitted to the hospital last week. Curious to see how this develops.
Four Republicans is in a tough spot here, curious how they navigate it.
If four Republicans broke with their party tosupport the measure, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month – key US politics, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
If several staff members have reportedly been fired from the US office of the director of national intelligence (DNI), multiple outlets have reported, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
So the bottom line is the measure, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month, would require the president to seek Congress’s authorization to use military force against Iran. Wonder how this will land.
The detail about the resolution’s passage in the Senate was enabled by the absences of two Republicans: Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was admitted to the hospital last week is something people should sit with.
So the bottom line is four Republicans broke with their party tosupport the measure, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month – key US politics. Wonder how this will land.
Reading that the resolution does not require the president’s signature, and Trump and his Republican allies have questioned the constitutionality of the 1973 War Powers Act under which it was passed — hard to argue with the logic there.
Think about it: the resolution’s passage in the Senate was enabled by the absences of two Republicans: Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was admitted to the hospital last week. That speaks volumes.
When you look at the measure, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month, would require the president to seek Congress’s authorization to use military force against Iran, the implications are hard to ignore.
The fact that four Republicans broke with their party tosupport the measure, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month – key US politics really puts things into perspective.