U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Thursday that it’s unlikely that she’ll vote to authorize “further hostilities” against Iran.
That comes as the U.S.-Israel war approaches the 60-day mark — April 29 — amid a tenuous two-week cease-fire.
“I have said from the very beginning that if the military hostilities in Iran continue to that 60th day, then I believe the War Powers Act is implemented, and the president would need congressional authorization to continue the war in Iran,” Collins told attendees at the Semafor World Economy summit in Washington.
When asked whether she would vote in favor of continued military action, Collins said that she “very likely” would not vote for “further hostilities,” according to Semafor, which first reported her comments.
Collins on Wednesday voted against a resolution to limit Trump’s war powers, a measure that failed in a largely party-line vote. It was the fourth such vote. The U.S. House of Representatives followed suit and shot down a similar resolution.
Despite the Maine Republican signalling a willingness to buck Trump, Collins said that she “always” wanted the military campaign to be “brief but successful,” according to Semafor.
The U.S. and Israel launched the surprise attack on Iran on Feb. 28. Since then, the war has spiraled, with missile and drone attacks stretching from Cyprus to Iran — roughly covering an area that would range from Oregon to Florida.
The war has left more than 2,000 dead across the Middle East, including 13 U.S. soldiers. While the White House on Wednesday declined to give Congress an estimate for the war’s cost, Linda Bilmes, a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School, estimates that the Pentagon is spending $2 billion a day.
Collins on Wednesday suggested that ground troop deployments, except in limited “extraordinary circumstances,” such as rescuing a downed pilot, would be a “red line” and need congressional approval, Semafor reported.
Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world’s petroleum and oil supply passes — has spread the pain throughout the global economy, creating the most significant price shock in the energy market since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago.
That economic impact has squeezed American producers and consumers, and it’s made Republicans anxious about their midterm prospects if the war can’t be wrapped up.
Iran on Friday morning suggested the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open” to commercial traffic along a “coordinated route,” though it’s uncertain whether shipping companies will trust that announcement, according to CNBC.
