IRAN/MILITARY/SENATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Senate on Friday [6-28-19] voted down a bipartisan measure that would have required President Trump to get Congress’s permission before striking Iran, after Republicans balked at infringing on the president’s war-making powers at a time of escalating tensions with the Islamic republic. Mr. Trump has said he has the power to launch a military strike against Iran without Congress’s permission, and in effect, the Senate agreed…The Iran measure highlighted growing unease after years of Congress ceding its constitutionally granted war powers to the presidency — but that discomfort has not reached anything like critical mass. The measure, which needed 60 votes to pass, failed 50 to 40 on Friday afternoon, despite Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Mike Lee of Utah, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, all Republicans, breaking ranks to join Democrats who voted in favor.”
–Catie Edmondson and Nicholas Fandos, “Senate Rejects Curb on Trump’s Authority to Strike Iran,” The New York Times online, June 28, 2019