This story has been updated. U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy is the latest Senate Democrat to force a vote on a measure to rein in war with Iran. Even though the Senate once again blocked the resolution Tuesday evening, the effort is part of a broader strategy to push Congress to address the conflict in the absence of public hearings. Murphy has vented frustrations about Congress taking a back seat since the initial strikes against Iran started a month ago, despite the body’s constitutional authority to declare war. That’s why the Connecticut senator and a small group of his Democratic colleagues are pushing for repeated votes on war powers resolutions. These votes are essentially symbolic since Democrats aren’t in the majority and Republicans have successfully blocked previous attempts to curb President Donald Trump’s ability to carry out further strikes in Iran without congressional approval. Tuesday’s vote on Murphy’s war powers resolution — an expedited measure that must be taken up on the Senate floor — had a similar fate. The measure failed in a nearly party-line vote, with 47 senators voting for the resolution and 53 opposing it. It would “direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.” Still, he saw it as an opportunity to put a spotlight on an issue he argues Republicans are shying away from, especially at a time when gas prices are soaring and Pentagon officials are planning to ask Congress for about $200 billion for the war. “It’s our only opportunity to debate the war, which is tragic,” Murphy told reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, a few hours before the Senate was to vote on his resolution. “And we need to continue to put Republicans on record. This war is not getting more popular as time goes on.” “If they’re not willing to come to Congress and defend this war, it speaks to the indictment of the preparation and the strategy,” Murphy said during his floor speech Tuesday night, referring to his calls for Trump officials to testify. Congress has already taken a few war powers votes that have failed in both chambers since the start of the Middle East conflict a month ago. Senate Republicans blocked the most recent push last week, which was led by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. He’s part of the group, along with Murphy, who are trying to keep the issue front and center. That coalition of Senate Democrats has teed up similar resolutions that they can force the Senate to take up at a later date. War powers resolutions, however, have been largely unsuccessful. Only one has overcome a presidential veto during the Vietnam War era. The War Powers Act of 1973 requires a president to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action if there is no declaration of war, and it limits military deployment to 60 days — with a 30-day withdrawal — unless Congress authorizes the use of force. A war powers resolution would obligate the president to seek approval from Congress on further military action in the region. Even if it got through the House and Senate, Trump can veto the measure. Two-thirds majorities are required from both chambers to override a presidential veto. The future of the Iranian conflict is murky — Trump and members of his administration have provided mixed messaging on how long they expect the war to continue. After giving Iran a deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said there’ll be a five-day pause on strikes against Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure as talks continue. He called the conversations “in depth, detailed and constructive” in a post on social media platform Truth Social. But Iranian officials have reportedly disputed the president’s characterization and said such talks haven’t happened. During his floor speech Tuesday night, Murphy pointed to the shifting objectives of the war, which have included destroying Iran’s missiles and missile launchers, its nuclear infrastructure and its Navy as well as a change in the country’s regime. The senator read aloud an excerpt a story in The Washington Post that reopening the Strait of Hormuz “has emerged as perhaps the paramount objective of a war.” Murphy said the administration is “seeking to solve a problem that we created” since it was open prior to the start of the conflict. Murphy has taken a more aggressive stance since the start of the war than many of his colleagues. He has argued the Senate shouldn’t proceed to any other legislative business until Congress votes on authorizing the use of military force. And he has repeatedly called for Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to testify before Congress on the ongoing military campaign in Iran. But no such hearings have materialized. In a closed-door hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, Murphy asked the Republican chairman, Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, if he’d hold public hearings with Trump administration officials about the war in Iran. Murphy said he was told it’d be “counterproductive.” “From one perspective, he’s right. If your goal is to cover up the incompetence of this war, yes a public hearing would be counterproductive,” Murphy quipped to a gathering of veterans at the Capitol last week. “But asking the administration to explain its rationale for putting thousands of young men and women in harm’s way for a war with no end game is not counterproductive to the basic exercise of democracy in this country.” Risch declined to comment on that exchange, telling The New York Times that it happened during a classified meeting. “I thought it was a very revealing moment … to have the chairman say he plans no hearings because he doesn’t want the administration to answer questions,” Murphy told the Connecticut Mirror last week as he headed to the vote on Booker’s war powers resolution vote. As Murphy’s war powers resolution came up for a vote on Tuesday night, Risch once again spoke out against the effort, arguing that lawmakers should stand behind the president and U.S. troops. “We all know this isn’t going to go on very long, but it needs to be done. The president is going to complete the job,” Risch said from the Senate floor. “To my friends on the other side of the aisle, stop this. Don’t try to help the Iranians.” While war powers efforts have stalled, Congress would need to take up the Pentagon’s request for supplemental funding once it reaches Capitol Hill. “As far as $200 billion, I think that number could move, obviously. It takes money to kill bad guys, so we’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we may have to do in the future,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing last week. The plan to ask for $200 billion has run into resistance from some lawmakers, including many in Connecticut’s congressional delegation. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters in Hartford on Friday that the request for supplemental funding is a “non-starter,” arguing that it’s indication that the war will be a prolonged conflict. “The approval of this measure could easily be misinterpreted and spun by the administration as an approval for the war that’s required under the Constitution,” Blumenthal said. “It is a reckless use of military power that’s illegal so long as Congress has not been asked to approve it and voted to do so.” U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, argued in a statement that the request from the Pentagon would exacerbate cost-of-living issues that are already affecting many Americans. “If the Trump Administration wants this money,” said DeLauro, House Appropriations Committee ranking member, “they should pay for it by reversing the trillions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations they enacted last year.” ...read more read less