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A small group of Republicans in Congress are breaking with President Donald Trump over the Iran war, which threatens to open fissures inside the MAGA movement ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The conflict escalated in recent days, after Washington and Iran exchanged new daily strikes following the collapse of a monthslong ceasefire earlier in July. Pakistan, a key mediator, has sought to push diplomatic efforts to wind down the attacks, but there was no clear end in sight on Tuesday. Civilian infrastructure has been targeted, while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway for the global oil supply, has also stalled amid the renewed fighting.
The escalation could have political implications domestically for the Trump administration, because polling suggests most Americans are opposed to the conflict. The renewed fighting comes just months ahead of the midterms, as Democrats are making opposition to the war a cornerstone of their bid to retake control of the House of Representatives and Senate in November.
Most Republican lawmakers remain supportive of the war, but there are some cracks, with some libertarian-minded conservatives and moderate Republicans in competitive races voting recently against a War Powers Resolution.
Also, some of the president’s onetime most ardent supporters like former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia have also broken with him over the war.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Newsweek the administration has been “fully transparent with Congress over the course of this conflict and throughout negotiations, and senior officials have provided more than 30 bipartisan briefings to the Hill since late February.”
“The Iranian regime – which for 47 years has chanted ‘Death to America’ and killed our troops overseas – can never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon, and the President’s team will continue to communicate with Congress as we work toward this shared goal,” she said.
Newsweek reached out to each Republican who voted in support of the War Powers Resolution for comment via email.
Seven Republicans Vote for Iran War Powers Resolution
Seven Republicans from the House of Representatives and Senate have voted in support of various mostly symbolic War Powers Resolutions that would limit Trump’s power to continue military action against Iran if he does not have the support of Congress.
However, assertions about a 60-day time limit applying to the president’s authority to unilaterally wage war without such backing are open to interpretation.
If it is viewed as a single, ongoing conflict that began with the U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28, 2026, it has lasted 143 days as of July 21. However if the period covered by the ceasefire and subsequent negotiations are excluded, the war was fought from February 28 until the April 7–8 ceasefire, before hostilities resumed on July 7, amounting to about 53 days of fighting to date.
Representative Tom Barrett
Barrett, of Michigan, was one of four Republicans who voted in support of a June 3 War Powers Resolution vote. He explained his vote in a post to X that same day.
“Congress has the exclusive authority under the Constitution to declare war and authorize the use of force. The War Powers Act of 1973 delegates some of that authority to the president for a limited period of time,” he wrote. “That authority has expired, and my support of this resolution tonight is consistent with my belief that it is time for Congress to decide the scope of the mission and the appropriate limits on the use of force in Iran.”
Barrett is running in one of the most competitive races of the 2026 midterms. He represents a Lansing-based district that backed Trump by only a single point; it’s rated a toss-up by the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
Senator Susan Collins
Collins, a Republican Maine centrist who is running in one of the most competitive Senate races this year, has also voted in support of ending hostilities in Iran.
“As I have said since these hostilities began, the President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief is not without limits. The Constitution gives Congress an essential role in decisions of war and peace, and the War Powers Act establishes a clear 60-day deadline for Congress to either authorize or end U.S. involvement in foreign hostilities. That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” she wrote in an April 30 statement.
Any further military action must have a “clear mission, achievable goals, and a defined strategy for bringing the conflict to a close,” she wrote.
Trump lost Maine by roughly 7 points in 2024, so Collins is viewed as particularly vulnerable. Her Democratic rival will be formally determined during a convention this coming weekend, but former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson has appeared to secure enough nonbinding delegates to win the convention; his top rivals have also dropped out.
Representative Warren Davidson
Davidson represents a southwestern Ohio district and has also voted to rein in Trump’s authority. He was an early supporter of those efforts. In a March 4 address on the floor of the House, he said Iran is an enemy of the U.S. but raised constitutional concerns about the war.
“For some, this debate will be about whether we should even be fighting in Iran,” he said. “For me, the debate is more fundamental. Is the president of the United States, regardless of the person holding the office, empowered to do whatever he wants? That’s not what our Constitution says.”
Representative Brian Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick, a moderate representing a district in the Philadelphia suburbs won by former Vice President Kamala Harris, said in a June statement that while he agrees the world is safer with Iran’s nuclear capabilities being “degraded,” the U.S. is a “nation of the rule of law.”
“We must keep the world safe, and we must also follow the law. The War Powers Act of 1973 states that any conflict exceeding 60 days must be brought to Congress. Today was the second War Powers Resolution that was brought to the House floor following the expiration of this 60-day clock. The law, as it is currently written, requires that the matter now be brought to Congress. That is why I voted in favor of today’s resolution. We must follow the law,” he wrote.
He also introduced his own War Powers Resolution.
Representative Thomas Massie
Massie, a Kentucky Republican known for his anti-interventionist approach to foreign policy, has become a Republican leader on reining in Trump’s authority.
He told Newsweek on Tuesday, “The war with Iran is unconstitutional. It is also illegal under the 1973 War Powers Act. By passing the Iran war powers resolution, the People’s House sent President Trump a message: end this war.”
He has introduced War Powers Resolution efforts, raising constitutional concerns about the president’s authority to wage war without congressional support. He has been perhaps the most forceful elected Republican on the Iran war and broader aid to Israel.
“The war with Iran is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. It’s also ILLEGAL under the 1973 WPA. Here’s how much of the $300 billion will come from American taxpayers: The U.S. will give foreign aid, military assistance, tariff exemptions, etc to countries that will in turn provide money to Iran,” he wrote in a June 25 post on X.
Senator Lisa Murkowski
Murkowski, a moderate Alaska senator, opposed earlier War Power Resolutions but voted to remove U.S. forces from Iran in May. She pointed to two developments that shifted her vote, including that the war had begun more than 60 days prior, though part of that time span was during the ceasefire, as well as the administration’s assertions that hostilities ended.
“If U.S. forces are still required to operate in the region or hostilities are resumed, the administration is obligated to seek authorization from Congress and should come before this body, and the American people, making that case,” she wrote.
Senator Rand Paul
Paul, a Kentucky senator, like Massie has embraced a more libertarian approach to foreign policy. He has called for peace and has voted in support of the War Powers Resolution.
“I’ve spent my career warning against regime change wars, nation-building, and endless military entanglements. The same voices now attacking Trump’s Iran deal are the architects of every failed intervention of my lifetime. This war must end. I stand with President Trump on peace,” he wrote in a July 17 X post.
MAGA Leaders Break With Trump on Iran
Apart from these seven GOP lawmakers, several other prominent Republican figures have also broken with Trump over the Iran war.
The conflict became a sticking point between Trump and Greene, once one of Trump’s most ardent supporters who resigned from Congress at the start of 2026. She criticized Trump over the war on Monday after he said Iran would have to “pay for that killing many times over” every time they kill a U.S. soldier.
“Our American soldiers wouldn’t be getting killed if you weren’t fighting an unnecessary war against Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz that was already open before you went to war,” Greene wrote. “End the war. In your 1st term in 2019, gas was under $2 and inflation was 1.8%, DO THAT AGAIN!”
Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host and influential conservative pundit, has also spoken out against the war.
“This is Israel’s war. This is not the United States’ war. This war’s not being waged on behalf of American national security objectives—to make the United States safer or richer. This war isn’t even about weapons of mass destruction, nukes,” he said during his podcast, The Tucker Carlson Show, in March.
Americans Oppose Iran War, Polling Shows
The latest survey from The Washington Post and Ipsos found that only 29 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the situation with Iran, compared to 69 percent who disapprove. Sixty-eight percent said the war was not worth fighting, while 66 percent said they were not confident that the war would prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
The poll surveyed 2,648 adults from July 8-13, 2026 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.
A YouGov/The Economist poll, conducted among 1,616 adults from July 10-13, found that 57 percent of Americans believe going to war with Iran was the “wrong decision,” compared to 27 percent who said it was the “right decision.” Meanwhile, 55 percent said the United States should not continue attacking Iran, and 65 percent said the war should be ended “as quickly as possible.”
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