WASHINGTON — Republicans on Capitol Hill are walking a cautious election-year line on the Iran war as the future of the conflict seems increasingly uncertain and polls show most Americans think the war isn’t worth fighting.
The potential political peril has only grown in recent days, particularly for Republicans facing reelection in November. But while some GOP lawmakers say they want more information from President Donald Trump’s administration on the endgame and the escalating cost, they continue to defend the president’s decision to engage and have voted repeatedly to cede congressional powers to the White House.
“Is anyone out there in the real world happy with gas prices? No,” said Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican who grilled military leaders for more detail at a contentious hearing Tuesday. “But I think they understand why gas prices are as high as they are.”
It’s still unclear, though, if more Republicans – many of whom have been privately questioning the conflict – will speak out publicly as the midterm elections approach. GOP lawmakers in both the House and Senate are expected to face the next test of their loyalty this week as Democrats force new votes on whether Trump should seek congressional approval for military action against Iran.
As Congress considers whether to weigh in, the U.S. has carried out waves of airstrikes in recent days as the two countries clash over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Gas prices have spiked again and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators at the hearing Tuesday that the U.S. had spent $37.5 billion on the war so far. On Wednesday, Trump traveled to Dover Air Force Base for the arrival and dignified transfer of the remains of four U.S. service members.
“I do think the combination of the hearings, plus the fact that we are in this new escalatory phase where Americans have been killed, and Americans are experiencing the rising costs – I think it’s important that people be held accountable,” said Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who is expected to lead the next war powers vote as soon as Thursday. “And this is a very unpopular war.”
PHOTOS: Republicans in Congress continue to back Iran war despite the political risk
Polls find Americans disapprove of the war
Most Americans disapprove of the way Trump is handling the situation with Iran, according to recent polling. A Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted in July found that few Americans think the war in Iran has been worth fighting, and most aren’t confident that the U.S. military action in Iran and negotiations to end the war will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Only about two-thirds of Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the situation in Iran, according to the Washington Post/Ipsos poll. Most Republicans, about 6 in 10, think the war has been worth fighting and are confident that the military action and ensuing negotiations will prevent Iran from development nuclear weapons, but a sizable share – about one-third – are not convinced.
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who is up for reelection this year, said that he tries to explain to voters that he has seen the intelligence and believes the war was necessary to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. But we need to “finish the job,” Rounds said.
“It’s challenging” to explain it to people back home, Rounds said. “It’s complicated, and a lot of the stuff we know, we can’t talk about, because it’s classified.”
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, another Republican up for reelection, questioned military leaders at Tuesday’s hearing on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“It seems to me that there’s been a different plan almost daily with dealing with this problem,” she told Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
War powers votes have shifted as conflict has dragged on
Opposing the war can have a political cost, as well. Collins was one of four Republicans to side with Democrats when the Senate passed a war powers resolution on Iran for the first time in June. The vote greatly angered Trump, who attended a GOP Senate luncheon the next day and called the four Republicans “losers.”
One of the other Republicans to vote for the war powers resolution was Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican who lost his Senate seat in a primary after Trump endorsed one of his opponents.
In the closed-door luncheon, Cassidy told Trump directly that he needed to give more details to the public about the conflict. “This was supposed to last four weeks, it’s lasted four months,” he said. “Our original objectives have not been achieved.”
Trump argued back, Cassidy later told reporters, and he told the president that he wouldn’t change his vote until he got a briefing. The White House later relented, giving Cassidy a one-on-one meeting, and the Louisiana Republican changed his vote in a late night do-over vote before the Senate left for a two-week recess.
Cassidy wouldn’t say Wednesday whether recent developments would change his vote when the Senate takes up the next resolution to halt the war.
“I’m not commenting on that,” he said.
House to consider war powers resolution
The House is expected to consider a war powers resolution Thursday after also approving a similar measure in June. It is unclear whether enough Republicans could again vote with Democrats to pass the resolution, led by Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has aggressively lobbied his members against the war powers measures. Echoing Trump, Johnson said this week that the U.S. has ensured that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon that “would be a disaster for everybody.”
Still, he said, there is a global understanding that “now we got to wrap it up.”
Asked about the war on Wednesday before his Dover trip, Trump voiced continued confidence in his approach.
“Americans don’t want high gasoline prices but they aren’t against the war,” he said.
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Associated Press writer Amelia Thomson DeVeaux contributed to this report.
