GOP Senators Collins, Murkowski and Paul Join Democrats to End Trump's Operation Epic Fury

Republicans' support for President Donald Trump's war on Iran fractured Wednesday.

Senate Democrats have spent months trying to peel off Republicans from their near-unified backing of Operation Epic Fury. They kept bringing war powers resolutions to the floor since fighting started.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., finally persuaded some GOP members to switch sides with his latest effort. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., joined Democrats to terminate the operation. Paul has consistently sought to limit Trump's war powers. The vote came after Congress passed the 60-day deadline to act on the Middle East fighting, and hours after Trump arrived in China.

Top Trump administration officials, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, said the deadline no longer applied because of a ceasefire pause. Trump, after rejecting Iran's latest proposal Tuesday, called the truce on "life support."

"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 added.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Trump's China trip carried national security weight. "It would be best if everybody hung together and supported the president," he said. "People have their own minds about some of these issues, and this is not a new vote, it's one we've had many times before, but you know, we'll see what votes are."

Congress could vote on an Authorization for Use of Military Force to authorize or stop further Iran fighting. Some Republicans see it as a legal boost for Trump. Murkowski warned earlier this month she would push an AUMF without signs of a peace deal or administration goals.

At Tuesday's hearing on Trump's $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget request, Murkowski asked Hegseth if an AUMF would help Trump if fighting resumed. "I think the president — our view is that he has all the authorities he needs under Article II to execute," Hegseth replied.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who launched the war powers push, said a passed AUMF would turn an "illegal and unwise war" into just an unwise one. "But I see almost no circumstance in which Republicans would want to have a vote on that in committee or on the floor," he told Fox News Digital. "They are actively trying to avoid accountability for the war."