Senators blocked an effort on Friday to restrict President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE’s ability to go to war with Iran, handing a victory to Republicans and the White House.

Senators voted 50-40 on the proposal from Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine Timothy (Tim) Michael KaineHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Democrats call for declassifying election threats after briefing by Trump officials Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice MORE (Va.) and Tom Udall Thomas (Tom) Stewart UdallLWCF modernization: Restoring the promise OVERNIGHT ENERGY: House Democrats tee up vote on climate-focused energy bill next week | EPA reappoints controversial leader to air quality advisory committee | Coronavirus creates delay in Pentagon research for alternative to 'forever chemicals' Senate Democrats demand White House fire controversial head of public lands agency MORE (N.M.) to block the president from using funding to carry out military action without congressional authorization.

Sixty yes votes would have been required to get the amendment added to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In a round of unusual procedural maneuvering, senators passed the mammoth defense bill on Thursday, but agreed to add the Kaine-Udall proposal retroactively if they could secure the votes.

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Republicans, however, had appeared confident that they would be able to block it from getting added to the bill. If every Democrat supported the amendment they would still need to pick up 13 GOP senators, a heavy lift with the opposition from leadership. GOP Sens. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power Billionaire who donated to Trump in 2016 donates to Biden Credit union group to spend million on Senate, House races MORE (Maine), Mike Lee Michael (Mike) Shumway LeeBipartisan representatives demand answers on expired surveillance programs McConnell shores up GOP support for coronavirus package McConnell tries to unify GOP MORE (Utah), Jerry Moran Gerald (Jerry) MoranLobbying world This World Suicide Prevention Day, let's recommit to protecting the lives of our veterans Hillicon Valley: Zuckerberg acknowledges failure to take down Kenosha military group despite warnings | Election officials push back against concerns over mail-in voting, drop boxes MORE (Kan.) and Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Rand Paul says he can't judge 'guilt or innocence' in Breonna Taylor case Overnight Health Care: Health officials tell public to trust in science | Despair at CDC under Trump influence | A new vaccine phase 3 trial starts MORE (Ky.) broke ranks and supported the amendment.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline The Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power MORE (R-Ky.) argued that Democrats were playing politics because of their opposition to Trump’s administration, and predicted it would be defeated.

“None of our Democratic friends would be supporting this if there was a Democratic president,” McConnell said. “This is clearly within the bounds of measured response that have not been micromanaged by Congress in the past.”

He added that he "would love to have some Democratic support, but I think this is an example of the affliction with Trump derangement syndrome."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe James (Jim) Mountain InhofeChamber of Commerce endorses McSally for reelection Overnight Defense: Top admiral says 'no condition' where US should conduct nuclear test 'at this time' | Intelligence chief says Congress will get some in-person election security briefings Top admiral: 'No condition' where US should conduct nuclear test 'at this time' MORE (R-Okla.) had told The Hill that “I don’t think it will get 60 votes.” Asked if he was confident of defeating the measure, Sen. John Thune John Randolph ThuneSenate passes resolution reaffirming commitment to peaceful transition of power Susan Collins faces political land mine with Supreme Court fight Abortion stirs GOP tensions in Supreme Court fight MORE (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, said that he was.

“We want to defeat it, it’s at 60, and so we know what the numbers we need are,” he added. “We know where most of our members are.”

The vote comes amid growing tensions between the United States and Iran. Trump warned earlier this week that if Iran attacked “anything American” that he would respond with “great and overwhelming force,” including “in some areas … obliteration.”

Trump’s tweet comes days after he acknowledged that he called off strikes late last week because he believed they were "not proportionate" to Iran's downing of a U.S. surveillance drone.

The volatile situation sparked new red flags from Democrats who worry that Trump will get into a war with Iran, without a clear strategy or endgame.

“It's just so important that everybody be on the record on this, and we could not let the NDAA go by, when we were 10 minutes away from a war, without having the discussion or the troops and the public would have said ‘what the hell were you guys doing?’ ” Kaine said.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' 3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing Cruz blocks amended resolution honoring Ginsburg over language about her dying wish MORE (D-N.Y.) touted the vote, saying it showed a majority believe Trump "should come to Congress before bogging the country down in an endless war."



“A bipartisan majority of the Senate today sent an important message to President Trump: you do not have a blank check to pursue another endless war in the Middle East," Schumer said in a statement.

Schumer had told his colleagues during leadership meetings and a weekly caucus lunch that Democrats should support blocking the NDAA unless they got a vote, according to a Democratic aide familiar with the meetings.

Despite the Senate's defeat of the measure, it's likely to crop back up when the House and Senate have to reconcile their competing defense bills. House Democrats are offering an amendment to their NDAA that would prohibit funding for U.S. military action against Iran unless Congress has declared war or enacted another specific authorization. It's expected to be adopted into their bill.

The demand for a vote in the Senate and the scheduling of the two 2020 Democratic primary debates required an unusual juggling of competing schedules, with some senators already planning to leave town on trips early Friday morning.

To try to accommodate every senator who wanted to vote, McConnell opened the chamber at 5 a.m. on Friday, roughly five hours before the Senate normally comes into session. Friday's vote marked the longest in modern Senate history, clocking in at just over 10 hours when it wrapped up after 3 p.m.

The rare Friday session was marked by unusual occurrences including casually dressed senators and Democrats presiding over part of the Senate, an unusual move for the GOP-controlled chamber.

Democrats clamored for a Friday vote in order to let the seven senators running for president to get back to Washington. Without a deal to hold a vote on the Iran amendment the caucus had threatened to bring down the defense bill, which has passed by bipartisan margins for nearly 60 years.

Schumer, according to an aide familiar with the meetings, told the caucus that they needed to "credibly threaten" blocking the defense bill if they wanted McConnell to give them an amendment vote.

McConnell initially brushed off talk of waiting until the Democratic presidential candidates returned to hold the vote. By Wednesday, however, he announced that he and Schumer had worked out a deal to hold a Friday vote.

“[It] was not wildly and enthusiastically greeted on my side,” McConnell told reporters on Thursday about the decision. “But we’ll be voting for a period of time.”

Kaine credited Democrats with remaining united in demanding a vote, but predicted that McConnell also got the OK from his caucus to put the proposal on the floor.

“I also think Mitch probably asked his own people and he probably found out that a lot of his folks were not afraid of this vote,” Kaine said. “Some are going to vote against Kaine-Udall strongly, some are probably going to vote for it. But people know where they are on this.”

—Updated at 3:35 p.m.