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A few Republicans joined Democrats in favor of a measure instructing President Trump to halt military operations against Iran or seek congressional authorization.
The Senate on Tuesday adopted a resolution instructing President Trump to end the war in Iran or seek congressional authorization to continue it, delivering the most significant bipartisan rebuke yet of the conflict.
The resolution does not have the force of law and is therefore unlikely to compel an immediate change in policy. But the 50-to-48 vote — in which four Republicans joined Democrats in favor — marked a striking break by the G.O.P.-led Congress with a president who has faced little resistance from his party on any topic, particularly matters of war and national security.
It came as Republicans in Congress have expressed skepticism and alarm about the cease-fire agreement Mr. Trump struck with the Iranians, as the conflict approaches its fifth month. The measure underscored G.O.P. impatience about continuing to defer to the president, who has never sought approval from Congress for the war, as further negotiations over its end appear precarious and Mr. Trump has threatened more military action.
The vote was also the latest evidence of tension over the war inside the Republican Party, which faces a punishing political environment ahead of midterm elections in which G.O.P. control of Congress is at stake. With polls showing the conflict deeply unpopular, some lawmakers in the party have voiced concerns about its economic toll, uncertain objectives and the risk of a broader regional escalation.
Tuesday’s vote marked the first time since the enactment of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 that both chambers of Congress have approved a concurrent resolution directing a president to end a military conflict. The House passed the measure this month after Republican leaders who had tried to block it were unable to keep the party unified in opposition.
In the Senate on Tuesday, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the lone Democrat to vote against the resolution. Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana broke with fellow Republicans and supported the measure. Their backing and the absence of two Republicans who have opposed such measures in the past, including Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, who was recently hospitalized, allowed the resolution to prevail. The law was born out of a clash between Congress and President Richard Nixon over the Vietnam War, with lawmakers overriding his veto in an effort to reclaim authority over decisions of war.
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