A group of six additional Senate Democrats plan to file new war powers resolutions this week to halt the war in Iran, a move that would allow Democrats to continue forcing votes on the war for the foreseeable future. 

Previously, a different group of six Democrats introduced similar resolutions, and Democrats have called up two of them thus far, with plans to call up a third this week. So far, the resolutions have all failed along mostly party lines, with all senators remaining consistent in their votes.

The latest group of lawmakers includes Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Andy Kim (D-NJ). 

The array of lawmakers involved in the latest effort spans from staunch progressives and critics of Israel to generally more pro-Israel members. 

“President Trump chose to start a war knowing it was going to raise gas prices on Americans already struggling to get by,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “The president, and his party, just don’t care about anyone other than themselves. They lie, cheat and steal to enrich themselves and leave regular folks with the bill. It is long past time for Republicans in Congress to stand up and do their job.”

House Democrats also plan to call up a war powers resolution this week, which may pass given that some Democrats who previously opposed a war powers effort and a handful of Republicans have indicated they plan to change their votes.

The latest set of six resolutions will not be eligible for floor votes immediately, but Democrats can call up the other four resolutions introduced previously at will. Senate Democrats are also likely to force votes on matters related to the Iran war during the upcoming reconciliation process, which Republicans aim to use to fund immigration enforcement and other priorities.

Over two weeks into the war with Iran, American and Israeli leaders’ public statements about the effort and their goals remain largely in sync, with President Donald Trump praising Israel on Sunday for helping secure the Strait of Hormuz, while other countries with greater oil interests in the region have yet to offer to help.

However, the populations of the two countries have markedly different views of the war, which is popular in Israel while most Americans oppose it, which likely puts Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on different timelines. That, in turn, could impact the level of cooperation moving forward.

Assaf Orion, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said that “it’s clear that even though this is a joint operation embarked on together, there are significant differences. In the end, it depends on Trump.”

Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, said that “it is our sense [in Israel] that Trump is on the same page about staying the course” with goals including “the complete neutering and elimination of the ballistic and nuclear programs as we’ve known them, but also to locate and get rid of the 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium,” as well as to “assist the regime to collapse and change.”

”Without regime change, this is all for naught,” Diker added. “[Israel] simply can’t live with this messianic, jihadist regime. This is our opportunity.” 

The U.S. and Israel are cooperating more closely than ever before, Diker noted. “It’s a real partnership,” he explained. “We haven’t had that since the founding of the State [of Israel]. It had been a client, an ally, the little brother, not a full-fledged partner. [Secretary of Defense Pete] Hegseth said the only amazing air forces in the world are the U.S. and Israel — that’s quite a statement.” 

“American and Israeli leaders are on the phone every single day — the president and prime minister, joint chiefs of staff, the defense ministers — it’s incredibly tightly coordinated, because we can’t afford surprises,” he added.

That close coordination has “a great deterrent effect … it scares the living daylights out of the Iranian regime. It encourages the [Iranian] people who are still at home in Iran” to rise up against the regime, Diker posited.

Orion noted that different goals between the U.S. and Israel may include the U.S.’ aim to destroy Iran’s navy, something Israel has not mentioned, and the types of missiles they are most concerned about. Israel seeks to destroy long-range missiles that can reach its shores, while U.S. forces in the Gulf are threatened by short-range missiles.

“Within those goals, there can be differences in the level of achievement, the understanding of how much is enough,” he said. “Iran is Israel’s number one priority. For the U.S., the number one priority is China. Iran is an existential threat to Israel, but is far from it for the U.S.”

“Israel is willing to take greater risks because of that threat assessment, while the U.S. has to explain why it’s taking this risk,” Orion added.

While one may think the U.S. could endure a longer war because of its larger size and economy, and because Israelis are the ones running for shelter multiple times a day, while Americans are not, Orion said that does not appear to be the case.

“In Israel, [leaders are] saying it will take as long as it takes, expressing a kind of patience, while the U.S. government speaks out against ‘forever wars.’ They can continue, but they are less forgiving of long wars than Israel at this time. … Though the Israeli population is under fire and U.S. troops are under fire, Israel is more willing to absorb losses because of the sense that it is being threatened,” he said.

Diker said the differences between the U.S. and Israel are mostly in their political timelines: “President Trump has midterms [in November] and Israel has national elections,” set for the end of October, but may be held earlier. “Both men understand the existential nature of the moment. … Both men know their legacies can be built on destroying the world’s most dangerous regime.”

Still, Diker said, “public opinion in Israel backs the prime minister on this war and public opinion in the U.S. is deeply divided on the war … and have over 50% of the public saying they don’t know what this war is about. … That gives Netanyahu more breathing room to finish what needs to be finished even if it takes more time. … [Israel] wants to make sure this regime is destroyed however long it takes.”

Trump, however, has to “withstand political pressure from home with regard to the more isolationist wing of the MAGA movement and the Republican Party as a whole. He has to tie things up in the coming few weeks,” Diker said. 

In addition, the “real challenge” in the U.S. is “the economic war, a soft spot in American political culture. People are nervous about the stock market, the price of oil and have become very impatient.”

Looking at how the war may continue, Orion said that while the public does not know what targets remain in Iran, the IDF has said there are enough targets left to require three additional weeks — or more — of warfare.

At the same time, Israel and the U.S. have to “manage their inventory of bombs and interceptors,” Orion said. “Israel also has the Lebanese arena. [Americans] talk about how whatever they use in the Middle East can’t be used in [East] Asia.”

Diker noted that the U.S. started striking Kharg Island over the weekend, which has the potential to cut off 90% of Iran’s oil revenue. After that, he posited, there will need to be some boots on the ground, likely from the U.S., to locate and destroy Iran’s enriched uranium. If that is achieved, he said, the American role in the war will likely end.

Israel, in the meantime, will “help topple this regime in Iran. What we’ve accomplished is severe unprecedented degradation of the regime’s capabilities.” In addition, Israel will likely continue fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Orion posited that it is unlikely that Israel would continue the war in Iran after the U.S. pulls out.

”The reason the U.S. would stop would be to open the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on oil interests. If Israel continues [bombing Iran], Iran will continue [to attack oil interests],” he said. “However, if the U.S. stops in Iran, Israel may continue in Lebanon with American approval.”

Diker said he thinks it is unlikely that the U.S. would “just pack up and go home.”

”They have to get this uranium out,” he said. “Trump has to be convinced that [Iran] cannot build a nuclear weapon, and he is not convinced of that yet. They still have the uranium and the regime is still operating, somehow.” 

The Iranian regime may fall within weeks, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said during a press conference in Tel Aviv on Monday.

“We’re on the verge of eliminating the greatest state sponsor of terrorism in the region,” Graham said. “We’re in for weeks, not months.”

“President Trump is very good at making sure people don’t play him by giving them deadlines. I think you may see that now with Iran,” he added. 

Graham said that President Donald Trump is pursuing diplomacy “to find a way to end this regime diplomatically that will advance our national security interests,” while leaving the military option open.

“I think President Trump is looking to see which line will catch the biggest fish,” he added.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are in total agreement about how to proceed to weaken the Iranian regime, Graham said.

“There is no light between President Trump and Bibi about what to do and how to do it,” Graham said, later adding: “That’s what the president told me.” 

After their meeting at the White House last week, Netanyahu characterized Trump’s assessment of Iran negotiations as overly optimistic of the regime’s intentions, saying, “The president thinks the Iranians understand who they’re dealing with. He thinks the conditions he is setting, combined with their understanding that they made a mistake last time not reaching a deal, could bring them to agree to conditions that will allow a good deal to be reached.” 

But Netanyahu’s own view was more reserved: “I do not hide my general skepticism about the possibility of any deal with Iran.”

Graham called on the U.S. to “meet the moment” to topple the regime in Tehran. 

The senator said both that he is “hopeful that diplomacy may prevail yet,” but when asked if he thinks a diplomatic solution is possible, he noted that Iran is “prone to cheat,” and that “based on the past, no,” but he is willing to give it a chance.

He pointed out that the military option is still on the table and that “the [USS] Gerald Ford [aircraft carrier] is steaming this way. I don’t think they’re just going for better weather.”

“In the coming weeks, if we can’t find a diplomatic solution, we will engage in the great endeavor of supporting the Iranian people, demanding their freedom and the end of their oppression,” he stated.

To reach that goal, Graham said, “we have military capability second to none. There’s no more clever nation than Israel and no more powerful nation than the United States.”

Asked if he thinks a military solution could actually bring about the end of the regime, Graham said that the Iranian regime is “weak” and “will collapse with sustained pressure,” and noted that their Air Force flies planes “from the 80s.” 

“To anybody who believes the ayatollah can withstand all of this — you’re wrong,” he said.

Graham said the way to topple the regime militarily is to “kill the people who do the killing and see if the next guy wants to volunteer. … To those who want to appease: It never works. How many times could we have stopped Hitler? A bunch … The ayatollah represents evil incarnate to me.”

Graham acknowledged that military action in Iran could endanger American troops and result in the regime shooting ballistic missiles at Israel, but said “the risk associated with that is far less than the risk associated with blinking and pulling the plug and not helping the [Iranian] people as we promised. … We have to be good to our word.”

Should the mullahs’ regime fall, Graham said, it will be the result of Israel’s “determination to … go on the offensive” in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, sponsored in part by Iran, and the “bravery of the people of Iran, who said ‘we’ve had it; we want change.’” 

“I look forward to the day that Israel no longer has to fear a nuclear weapon developed by the Iranian regime,” he said.

Graham also recalled attending a demonstration against the Iranian regime in Munich over the weekend, and displayed a “Make Iran Great Again” hat, the idea for which, he said, came from diplomat Morgan Ortagus.

“The best way to make Iran great again is through the people, not the ayatollah,” Graham said.

In Gaza, Graham said that Hamas is “playing a game,” and Trump should set a time limit for disarmament. 

“I think it’s either going to take pressure from the region to get a monster to disarm, or Israel is going to have to go back in and wipe them out. The sooner we get an answer to those questions the better,” he said. 

Graham also expressed doubts that Gaza can be rebuilt “if right down the road there’s a neighborhood controlled by Hamas.”

Graham’s remarks came following meetings with Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and he plans to visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks.

The senator said one recurring theme in his meetings in Israel was expressions of appreciation for UAE leadership, specifically President Mohammed bin Zayed, as “a stalwart, reliable partner under difficult circumstances.” 

As for concerns about antisemitic and anti-Israel messages coming out of Saudi Arabia, Graham said that he knows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman well, and that he “believe[s] he still has the same vision for the region as he did before Oct. 7, but Oct. 7 took its toll.”

Graham expressed support for Netanyahu’s plan to taper off U.S. military aid over the next decade, saying that “rather than writing a check, he wants to create a partnership. … I like that idea. The wars of the future are being planned here in Israel, because if you’re not one step ahead of the enemy, you suffer. … We’re looking at Israel advancing down the road of new weaponry far beyond us. It would be nice to be part of that process.”

As to Trump calling Israeli President Isaac Herzog a “disgrace” for not yet deciding whether to pardon Netanyahu of his various corruption charges, Graham said: “I’ll leave that to President Herzog.”