May. 19, 2026, 6:08 PM EDT

The eighth time is sort of the charm for the U.S. Senate.

Amid attendance issues and growing defections in the GOP ranks, the Senate on Tuesday approved a procedural vote related to a war powers resolution. If adopted, the war powers resolution would severely restrict President Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran.

After seven failed previous attempts, the Senate voted 50-47 to discharge the war powers resolution, with Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining with nearly all Democrats in backing the procedural motion. (Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., once again opposed the vote.)

Cassidy, the newest GOP defection, just lost his bid for reelection to the Senate over the weekend, after Trump backed a challenger in the Louisiana primary. Cassidy also voted to support an Iran war powers resolution in 2020.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told MS NOW the Cassidy flip underscores there is “steady progress towards a realization that we are overextended and diplomacy is the only reasonable way to resolve this.”

But this victory will mostly be symbolic. Three GOP senators — John Cornyn, R-Texas, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. — weren’t present for the vote Tuesday, hence why the resolution succeeded. The resolution will now get another procedural vote before a final up-or-down vote in the Senate.

Even if those senators supported the measure, the legislation would still need to be adopted in the House — and survive an almost certain veto from President Trump.

None of those things are likely. But after seven failed votes in the Senate, this victory is at least symbolic for Democrats.

Introduced by Tim Kaine, D-Va., the resolution directs the president “to remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran.”

Last week, Kaine told reporters a day would come soon that Republicans joined Democrats on the resolution. By luck, or pure vengeance, that day came today.

Under Senate rulesa floor vote on the war powers resolution must occur within three calendar days — which should give Republicans more than enough time to get senators back to Washington to defeat the underlying resolution.

Still, the vote exposes growing frustration in the GOP ranks over the Iran war.

With the Iran conflict nearing the three month mark and a critical 90 day deadline, military action is supposed to cease unless Congress votes to declare or authorize war, according to the War Powers Resolution of 1973. The Trump administration, however, has disputed that the Iran war is on the clock, arguing the timeline has paused while in a ceasefire.

Still, the Senate’s vote comes as Democrats in the House are also expected to force a vote this week on reining in the president’s Iran war authority.

Last week, the House’s third vote on a war powers resolution failed with a 212-212 tied vote. Notably, the sole Democrat who voted with Republicans against that measure — Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine — objected on technical grounds and has suggested he could vote for a slightly different resolution this week.

Jack Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.

May. 19, 2026, 5:44 PM EDT

Happy Tuesday! Here’s your Tuesday Tech Drop, the past week’s top stories from the intersection of politics and technology.

GAO’s DOGE probe hampered

Officials at some federal agencies are reportedly stonewalling the Government Accountability Office’s investigation into what sensitive information Elon Musk and other federal employees may have accessed while working for the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

The Washington Post reported on officials who have spurned requests from the GAO, which conducts audits and investigations into federal misconduct. Wouldn’t you like to know whether and how Musk and his minions garnered access to some of the government’s most highly guarded documents? I, for one, am certainly curious why some officials are blocking these efforts.

A GAO spokeswoman told the Post that the agency remains “committed to fulfilling our statutory audit responsibilities,” adding, “Timely cooperation from [a] federal agency is essential to ensuring Congress has the information it needs to conduct effective oversight.”

I don’t know about you, but to me that sure sounds like “you better hand over the documents.”

Read more at The Washington Post.

Elon’s latest L

Musk lost his lawsuit against OpenAI that could have led to a massive overhaul of the artificial intelligence company. The ruling, which the X owner has vowed to appeal, was something of a victory for OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman.

But Altman didn’t survive unscathed, as there were parts of the trial that made him appear quite untrustworthy.

Read more at Bloomberg.

Trump’s stock trades

I wrote about a new financial disclosure showing that President Donald Trump bought and sold stocks in tech companies, including Palantir and Nvidia, while his administration has had a hand in regulating — and enriching — these companies. As I see it, the Palantir stock purchases in particular raise fresh concerns about the motivations behind the president’s anti-immigrant crackdown.

Read more at MS NOW.

‘Purge Palantir’ movement notches a win

Speaking of Palantir, Germany’s spy agency has reportedly decided to use a French software company rather than the American firm. The decision marks a victory for the “Purge Palantir” movement, a growing push for governments and businesses to sever ties with the Trump-aligned company.

Read more at Politico.

MAGA world’s AI worries

Steve Bannon and a bunch of MAGA influencers are fretting over the AI revolution and what it could mean for humans, so they all sent an open letter to Trump, begging him to impose his will on the industry. I wrote about why their push for Trump to take a central role in AI regulation is a terrible idea.

Read more at MS NOW.

Grassley extends an invitation to Big Tech

In a post on X late last week, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, invited top CEOs from Google, TikTok, Meta and Snapchat to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next month to discuss what measures they’re taking to keep children and families safe.

Why Grassley, the committee chairman, neglected to invite Musk, whose scandal-plagued platform he used to make the announcement, is certainly worth pondering.

Pope’s AI encyclical

Pope Leo is linking up with a co-founder of AI company Anthropic to launch an encyclical — basically, a guide on the church’s philosophy on different topics — focused on AI. The pope recently condemned the use of AI weapons in warwarning they can lead to a “spiral of annihilation.”

Read more at Bloomberg.

Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.

May. 19, 2026, 5:20 PM EDT

Senate Republicans rarely break with President Donald Trump, typically skirting any daily controversies by keeping silent or reserving judgment.

But when Trump announced Tuesday afternoon that he was endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn, Senate Republicans were quick to express their dissatisfaction.

It only took minutes for both Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, to tell reporters they were “disappointed” by the president’s endorsement.

“Maybe he thinks that with the strength of a Trump endorsement Paxton can win,” Murkowski said. “I think that this puts the seat in jeopardy.”

“I’m disappointed that he did it,” Collins said.

During a Senate GOP lunch on Tuesday, Punchbowl news reported that Murkowski told her Republican colleagues Trump was “not making it easy for us,” as he has withheld support from various incumbents and endorsed “ethically challenged” candidates like Paxton, who has faced a series of high-profile ethical, legal and political challenges throughout his tenure as Texas attorney general.

While Senate Republicans have stuck with Trump on a myriad of issues and scandals, the Paxton endorsement was a rare disagreement.

Asked about the endorsement, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., remained silent. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told reporters, “Obviously I support Sen. Cornyn.”

“I had hoped he would support or endorse Sen. Cornyn,” Hoeven said of Trump.

Throughout the Texas primary, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has maintained his support for Cornyn. And when he heard that Trump was suddenly backing Paxton, even Thune, who has strenuously avoided breaking with the presidentcould not mask his frustration.

“None of us control what the president does,” Thune told reporters. “He made his decision about that. That doesn’t change the way I feel.”

Explicitly asked about his frustration, Thune said everyone knew “my position on this issue.”

“Sen. Cornyn is a principled conservative. He is a very effective senator for the state of Texas,” he said.

And when Thune was pressed on how much harder Trump had just made his efforts to keep the Senate majority, given concerns about Paxton’s past legal problems, Thune noted that Republicans have 24 seats up this cycle and Democrats only have to defend nine.

“We care about seeing our incumbents succeed,” Thune said.

Thune added that Trump didn’t give him any advance warning about his endorsement.

“I found out, I think, where everybody else did,” Thune said.

Trump’s endorsement of Paxton comes as the president has tested GOP lawmakers on several fronts. Just this week, the Trump administration signaled its intention to set up a nearly $1.8 billion fund to pay people whom the president has determined have suffered from unfair prosecutions — like Jan. 6 insurrectionists. And Republicans have consistently been forced to defend Trump’s war with Iran, which has dragged into its 12th week and has dramatically increased gas prices.

Trump has also continued to push for congressional funding for his unauthorized ballroom while also recently breaking ground on an unauthorized arch near the Lincoln Memorial.

All the while, Senate Republicans have seldom broken from the president.

The Texas Senate race is already the most expensive primary — and runoff — in American history, with more than $125 million already spent before the March primary election.

But Cornyn has long been the money favorite in the contest. Throughout the campaign, Cornyn has been aided by the Senate GOP’s main campaign arm in calling out Paxton. And federal campaign finance records up to May 6 show Cornyn’s main campaign account had brought in more than $13 million and spent over $10 million.

Paxton’s effort, lacking the early start and incumbency advantage, had managed to raise around $7.6 million and spend a little more than $5 million up to that same filing period. Meanwhile, Democratic nominee James Talarico, who narrowly avoided a runoff with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, in March, had already raised more than $40 million, according to an Federal Election Commission filing at the end of Marchand he had more than $9 million in cash on hand.

Not only is the race between Cornyn and Paxton already the most expensive primary in historyit’s also the most expensive runoff ever. Now, some Republicans think the race will cost the GOP even more to keep the Senate seat red — and Trump’s move likely has made the race more competitive.

“I’d be a rocket scientist to figure out the pathway for Paxton is there, because it’s more uphill and it will cost,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. “I think we’ll win Texas. It’s just more … going to be more costly.”

Trump teased an endorsement in the race following the March primary, which sent Paxton and Cornyn into a runoff. But he ultimately decided to hold off on publicly pledging his support — that is, until Tuesday.

The endorsement came just days after Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., was overwhelmingly defeated in his primary race after Trump endorsed his challenger, Rep. Julia Letlow, who advanced to a primary runoff with Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming, a former Trump staffer and representative.

“Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination, and then, the Presidency, itself,” he continued.

“He was not supportive of me when times were tough,” Trump said.

Following Trump’s endorsement, Cornyn defended his loyalty to the president in a statement on X.

“I have worked closely with President Trump through both of his Presidential terms and voted with him more than 99% of the time. He has consistently called me a friend in this race,” Cornyn wrote. “It is now time for Texas Republican voters to decide if they want a strong nominee to help our GOP candidates down ballot and defeat Talarico in November, or a weak nominee who jeopardizes everything we care about. I trust the Republican voters of Texas.”

Many in the Republican conference have agreed with Cornyn that he has been a loyal Trump supporter.

“I don’t know what you can complain about on John Cornyn,” Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told Semafor.

“Probably no senator that has done more to support other Republican senators,” Moran added. “And I don’t know anything that he’s done that’s offensive in a significant way to the president.”

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said, despite Trump’s endorsement for Paxton, “We’ve been focused on John Cornyn, and most of us are still hoping that John Cornyn can pull this out.”

“He’s very well respected in our conference, and, you know, that has not changed,” Rounds said.

Meanwhile, Democrats see the endorsement as yet another sign that they can flip this Senate seat.

“Look, Texas is a huge mess for the Republicans, and I believe that we’re in much better shape taking back Texas than we were a few days ago,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday.

Hunter Woodall contributed to this report.