Sen. John Fetterman stands with the GOP while four Republicans side with Democrats on resolution calling for President Donald Trump to end the Iran war

The U.S. Senate voted 49-50 to reject a resolution directing President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces from the ongoing conflict with Iran. Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman was the lone Democrat to vote against the measure, while four Republicans — Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — joined nearly all Democrats in supporting it.

The resolution, based on H.Con.Res. 89, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 214-208. Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland did not vote Thursday, though her participation would not have changed the outcome.

Republican senators’ statements

Sen. Tillis, who voted for an Iran war powers resolution for the first time after opposing similar measures 12 times, told The Hill, “We’re reaching a point to where we just need answers. We got to know what success looks like.”

Tillis said he first heard the administration refer to the conflict as a “war” and he was not briefed by the administration during the following 60 days, as he said the War Powers Resolution requires. He also pointed to what he called a “consistently downward-trending negative reaction” from the public toward the war since the first strikes in February.

Sen. Susan Collins, who voted against the measure, said afterward that passing the resolution would have sent the wrong message to Iran and U.S. troops.

“At this juncture, providing unequivocal support to our service members is critically important, as is ongoing consultation by the administration with Congress,” Collins said.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who had previously supported war powers resolutions and was viewed as a pivotal vote, declined to explain his opposition to Thursday’s measure, telling reporters, “I have a 2:55 flight from Reagan so I have to go.”

Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio, who is in a competitive race against Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown told Politico that the “war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices,” but ultimately voted against the resolution.

The legal challenge

Separately, a federal lawsuit brought on behalf of the National Iranian American Council Action was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the military campaign against Iran violates the Constitution’s Declare War Clause.

Attorney Alan B. Morrison, representing NIAC Action, said in a statement, “The Constitution does not permit a President to wage war indefinitely and ask Congress for permission later. Congress never authorized this war, yet, months later, the bombing and blockade continued.”

NIAC Action Executive Director Jamal Abdi separately argued that Congress should sue Trump to enforce the war powers resolutions it has already passed, saying, “We are in a constitutional crisis and our lawmakers cannot simply roll over or bide their time as Trump traps the country in an illegal forever war.”

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a resolution that would direct House leadership to pursue legal action against Trump to enforce Congress’ position on the war.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment and is awaiting a response.

Political stakes ahead of the midterms

The vote came a little over a month before the midterm elections, with vulnerable Republican senators balancing public frustration over the war’s economic toll against continued support for Trump.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz contributed to higher gas, diesel and fertilizer prices, which Tillis and others cited as a growing political liability for GOP candidates.

A CNN/SSRS poll conducted in the days before the vote found that 64 percent of Americans did not believe the United States was winning the war, compared with 36 percent who believed it was.