By SUZANNE DOWNING
Sept. 24, 2026 – Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski once again broke with President Donald Trump on the Iran conflict Thursday, joining three other Republicans and most Senate Democrats in voting for a resolution directing the president to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran.
The measure failed, 49–50. Murkowski’s vote put her on the losing side of another high-profile dispute with Trump, but it did not change the outcome: Republicans had enough votes to defeat the resolution without her.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina also supported the measure. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the lone Democrat to vote against it. Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland did not vote.
The House passed the resolution in July, setting up Thursday’s Senate vote. It sought to require the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran under the War Powers Resolution. Its defeat means Congress has again declined to direct an end to the military campaign, which Trump has defended as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
For Alaska voters, the roll call offers a clear distinction between Murkowski and the Republicans who backed the president on this vote. It may also be Congress’s last recorded vote on the war before the November midterm elections, when voters will decide control of the House and Senate.
3 thoughts on “Murkowski joins Democrats in bid to halt Iran conflict; Senate rejects measure 49–50”
“Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski once again broke with President Donald Trump on the Iran conflict Thursday…” No, I believe President Donald Trump broke Lisa. She has yet to vote as a Republican. She hates Trump, and she is incapable of getting out of her own way. As the President says, if he cured cancer, she’d vote against it. Luckily, this vote means nothing whatsoever.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Rich Barris, the most accurate pollster since 2016 based on his predictions versus election day results, disclosed recently that he consulted with Dan Sullivan this past spring. He told Sullivan (who knew he was in trouble then for re-election) that Sullivan would need to come out against the war and chart a more independent path based solely on Alaskan interests and leave the neo-coning behind him. It’s clear what choice Sullivan made.
Begich is in trouble too. Having Mike Johnson campaign with him tied him closely with this Congress and hurt him. All his votes supporting this war have too.
Neocons would rather have their war then fight for the American people and do what they were elected to do in 2024. What a mighty coalition we had to transform his country. Donors didn’t like that and they rule both parties and here we are in this awful place.
Under the US Constitution the President is the Commander in Chief
Article II, Section 2, Clause 1:
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States…
Congress is tasked with Declarations of War
Article I, Section 8, Clause 11:
[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; . . .
Congress has only declared war 11 times. Twice in WWI, Six times in WWII, once with Spain, once with Mexico, and once with Great Britain during the war of 1812.
There have been eight times when Members of Congress have filed suit to force various Presidents to comply with War Powers Resolution requirements. The courts have have so far deemed the matter to be one for the political branches to resolve. In 2011 ten Members of Congress brought suit in federal court seeking a declaratory judgment regarding a War Powers Resolution, the federal district court dismissed the case due to lack of standing.