On Thursday, July 24, 2026, U.S. Senator Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) choked up on the Senate floor as he pointed to a bracelet honoring a fallen friend who was "cut in half" by an Iranian bomb. Sheehy used the moment to oppose the Iran War Powers Resolution, a Democratic-led effort that sought to require congressional authorization for continued U.S. military involvement against Iran.

Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and combat veteran, argued that while Democrats were correct to call the conflict a "war of choice," the decision was made decades ago by Iran’s regime, not by President Donald Trump. He recounted decades of Iranian-backed attacks on Americans, including the 1983 Marine barracks bombing, the USS Cole attack, and incidents involving terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

The Montana Republican emphasized that the regime in Iran does not consider U.S. partisan politics, stating, "And forever wars are not popular with anybody these days. Both sides of [the aisle] love to attack our forever wars. And I can promise you, being someone overseas wearing the uniform, when you’re fighting for your country, you don’t care what party’s in office."

Sheehy concluded with a resolute message: "We didn’t start this war, we did not. But, we will finish it."

The Senate ultimately rejected the effort to advance the Iran War Powers Resolution in a close 47-49 vote. Sheehy accused critics of ignoring the long history of Iranian-backed aggression against the United States.

An image from July 6, 2026, shows an armed member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) monitoring mourners at the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, underscoring the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

Sources