Senate Democrats finally crack GOP unity on Trump's Iran war as Murkowski flips

By Fox News · Fox News

Republicans’ support for President Donald Trump's war on Iran fractured on Wednesday. Senate Democrats have tried to splinter off Republicans from their near-unified backing of Operation Epic Fury for months with a campaign of attrition, putting war powers resolution after war powers resolution on the floor ever since fighting began. And after two months of trying, they finally got some in the GOP to flip on Trump with Sen. Jeff Merkley's, D-Ore., latest attempt. Still, it wasn’t enough to terminate ongoing operations in the Middle East. GOP HOLDS WITH TRUMP ON IRAN WAR, BUT CRACKS EMERGE AS DEADLINE NEARS Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has consistently voted to handcuff Trump’s war powers, all joined Democrats to end Operation Epic Fury. It comes after Congress blew past the 60-day deadline to weigh in on fighting in the region, and hours after Trump touched down in China. Top Trump administration officials, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth , argued that the 60-day deadline was moot because fighting was paused under a ceasefire. However, Trump, after rejecting the latest proposal from Iran, said on Tuesday that the fragile truce is on "life support." CONGRESS IGNORES KEY DEADLINE AS REPUBLICANS READY 'RESTRAINT' ON TRUMP'S WAR IN IRAN "I would call it the weakest, right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us — I didn't even finish reading it," Trump told reporters. "I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, 'Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living,'" he said. Whether Trump’s trip overseas and the deadline now in the rearview mirror would have an impact on Wednesday remained an open question heading into the vote. SENATE GOP MOVES TO BLOCK DEMS' WAR POWERS PUSH, PRESERVE TRUMP'S AUTHORITY IN RARE MOVE Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., noted that Trump’s trip to China would likely have national security implications, a…