The Republican-controlled US Senate has approved a measure demanding that President Donald Trump halt the war in Iran or seek congressional approval before continuing military action.
But the resolution is largely symbolic because, even after passing both chambers of Congress, it will not be sent to Trump for his consideration and does not carry the force of the law.
A handful of Republicans joined Democrats in Tuesday’s 50-48 vote. The same measure was passed by the US House of Representatives earlier this month.
It came as Republicans in Congress have expressed scepticism about a peace plan Trump agreed with Iran, and the unpopular conflict approaches its fifth month.
Trump criticised the resolution on Tuesday night, calling it “poorly timed and meaningless”.
“So, I have Iran on the ‘ropes,’ ready to go down for the fall… and the U.S. Senate decides to have a poorly timed and meaningless War Powers Act Vote,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“These Senators have just made my job more difficult, but I will get it done, one way or the other, because I always get it done!”
The vote marks the first time that both chambers of Congress have approved a concurrent resolution instructing a president to end a military action since the War Powers Resolution of 1973 was enacted.
A concurrent resolution expresses the sentiment or will of Congress, as opposed to other forms of legislation that go to the president to be signed into law. In 2019, Trump vetoed a joint resolution that called for the removal of armed forces from hostilities in the Yemeni civil war.
Middle East analyst Laura Blumenfeld called it “more of a slap on a wrist than a handcuff, because it has no legal binding”.
But she told the BBC she thought what “it does reflect is the American people’s sentiments”.
The concurrent resolution’s passage is significant because it adds to pressure on the White House to find an end to the Iran war, which is unpopular with the public after petrol prices spiked.
The same measure was passed earlier this month by the US House of Representatives, where four Republicans joined every Democrat to approve it in a 215-208 vote.
But a White House official said that with the ceasefire agreed on 7 April, there are no hostilities from which to withdraw American forces.