US Senate Blocks Bid to Restrict Trump’s Cuba Military Options in 51-47 Vote

The U.S. Senate delivered a crushing blow to Democratic efforts on Tuesday, voting 51 to 47 along near-perfect party lines to reject a War Powers Resolution that would have reined in President Donald Trump's energy blockade on Cuba and potentially blocked him from launching outright military action against the island nation.

The resolution was introduced by Senators Tim Kaine, Adam Schiff, and Ruben Gallego , who invoked the War Powers Act of 1973 to force a floor vote. The resolution would block Trump from using military force to topple Cuba's regime, something Democrats fear is a growing likelihood after Trump ordered a naval blockade of the island. Their urgency was fueled by Trump's own words, at a conference in Miami, Trump declared "Cuba's next," and later said "We may stop by Cuba after we're finished with this," referring to the Iran war. Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified to Congress that "we would love to see the regime there change."

Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat who crossed the aisle to vote against the resolution, while Senators Susan Collins and Rand Paul were the only Republicans to support it. Senator Rick Scott of Florida raised the point-of-order objection that killed the resolution, arguing Trump had never suggested putting troops on the ground in Cuba.

On the ground, Cuba is suffering water and power outages as U.S. sanctions interrupt Venezuelan oil shipments. A U.S. diplomatic delegation did travel to Cuba earlier this month, the first American government plane to land there since President Obama visited in 2016, suggesting diplomacy and aggression are uncomfortably running in parallel .

There is also a remarkable geopolitical twist embedded in this story. Even as the U.S. enforces its blockade, a sanctioned Russian tanker has docked in Cuba after Trump allowed it to break his administration's fuel blockade, a glaring contradiction that raises uncomfortable questions about whether the blockade is truly about human rights and democracy, or whether it is selectively applied pressure serving larger strategic calculations.

Democrats have now failed on over a dozen war powers votes covering Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba, a pattern that reveals just how thoroughly congressional oversight of presidential war-making has been hollowed out in Washington.