With the U.S.-Israel operation against Iran widening, the Senate voted 53-47 on Wednesday afternoon — largely along party lines — to block a procedural vote on a war powers resolution that would have forced the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from combat with Iran.

Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and John Fetterman (D-PA) broke with their respective parties as expected, with Paul voting for and Fetterman voting against the motion, with all other lawmakers voting along party lines.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Tuesday night that the U.S. should reconsider its military support for Israel, a marked evolution for a politician who traveled to Israel less than two weeks after the Oct. 7 terror attacks in 2023 and who said in an October interview that he would not consider eliminating U.S. military aid to Israel.

“Do you think, looking down the road, that the United States should consider maybe rethinking our military support for Israel?” Jon Favreau, the co-host of “Pod Save America,” asked Newsom during an event promoting the Democratic governor’s new book.

On the fifth day of the joint U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the accomplishment of several key objectives, including that “the leader of the unit” responsible for the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in November 2024 “has been hunted down and killed.”

Hegseth, speaking alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine, also touted the naval and air superiority achieved by the U.S. and Israel over Iran.

More than 80% of Israelis support the war against Iran, polls by two major Israeli research institutions found this week, while Americans were evenly split, according to a new Fox News poll.

The Israel Democracy Institute found that 82% of Israelis — 93% of Jewish Israelis and 26% of Israeli Arabs — support the war with Iran.

A strong anti-incumbent mood is apparent in the electorate, based on primary results from North Carolina and Texas’ congressional primaries Tuesday night. Meanwhile, one sitting Democratic lawmaker who lost support from AIPAC is narrowly fending off a challenge from a virulently anti-Israel challenger who campaigned in the closing days of the primary against the Iran war. 

Big picture: There’s a deep skepticism of the political establishment throughout the country within both parties. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a center-right hawk who was one of the stars of the 2018 GOP freshman class, badly lost to state Rep. Steve Toth, a right-wing challenger backed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). 

Any replacement selected to replace Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by Israel on the first day of the war with Iran on Saturday, will be in Israel’s crosshairs, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Wednesday.

“Any leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime will be a clear target for elimination,” Katz said. “The prime minister and I instructed the IDF to prepare and act by all means to accomplish the mission … We will continue acting with full force, together with our American partners, crush the regime’s abilities and create the conditions for the Iranian people to topple and replace it.” 

Following a classified briefing on Tuesday, Senate Republicans strongly rejected claims that Israel had effectively forced the U.S.’ hand into war with Iran or dictated the timeline of the conflict, claims that were fueled by comments on Monday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top lawmakers who were briefed on the Trump administration’s plans.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told Jewish Insider he had been in touch with the administration since the war began, and that no one in the administration had told him that Israel had triggered the U.S. to act.

In the increasingly heated Illinois Democratic Senate primary, one claim has become a familiar refrain from Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and her allies, that Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) “voted to thank” Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

But the criticisms don’t tell the full story. They refer to a resolution that was principally focused on condemning the firebombing attack on an Israeli hostage awareness march in Boulder, Colo., last summer, which also included language about immigration enforcement.