Iran press/ America: The amendment didn't reach the 60-vote threshold needed for passage, but lawmakers said the majority showing sent a strong message that Donald Trump cannot continue relying on the nearly two-decade-old war authorizations Congress approved in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The House is expected to take up the issue next month, AP reported.
"A congressional vote is a pretty good signal of what our constituents are telling us — that another war in the Middle East would be a disaster right now, we don't want US President to just do it on a whim," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a co-author of the measure with Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M.
"My gut tells me that the White House is realizing this is deeply unpopular with the American public," he noted.
The effort in the Senate signals discomfort with Trump's approach to foreign policy. Four Republicans joined most Democrats in supporting the amendment, but it faces steep resistance from the White House and the Pentagon wrote a letter opposing it.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called it nothing more than another example of "Trump Derangement Syndrome," which he explained as whatever the president's for "they seem to be against."
McConnell said putting restrictions on the White House would "hamstring" the president's ability to respond militarily at a time of escalating tension between the U.S. and Iran.
"They have gratuitously chosen to make him the enemy," McConnell said and continued: "Rather than work with the president to deter our actual enemy, they have chosen to make him the enemy."
On 21 June, Donald Trump said that he changed his mind about attacking 3 sites in Iran that could have killed 150 people.
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