The chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday signaled pessimism among Senate Republicans about the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts to reach a peace deal with Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz without further U.S. military action.
"The time is over for negotiations with Iran's regime," Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., wrote in a post on X. "The radical successors of [Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei can never be trusted to keep any promise or agreement."
Wicker then called on President Donald Trump to "direct his skilled military leaders to finish destroying Iran's conventional military capabilities and eliminating any last remnants of their nuclear program."
"This is the only way to ensure lasting stability in the region," Wicker wrote.
Trump is sending his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad Saturday for direct talks with Iran after Tehran reportedly initiated contact with the Trump administration.
It would be the first direct talks between Washington and Tehran since April 11, when the sides also met in Islamabad. Those talks came just days after Trump imposed a two-week ceasefire in a conflict that began Feb. 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran's political leadership and military infrastructure.
But those talks broke down after Vice President JD Vance, leading the U.S. delegation, said the U.S. did not see "an affirmative commitment" from Iran "that they will not seek a nuclear weapon."
Just hours before the ceasefire expired Wednesday, Trump extended it, seeking to build momentum for a deal before returning to military options.
Some Republican lawmakers are hoping the conflict will end before it reaches the 60-day threshold set by the 1973 War Powers Act on the president's authority to deploy U.S. troops in combat without a formal authorization vote from Congress.
The 60-day window ends April 29. The act provides the president with an additional 30 days to wind down the military operation.
Several GOP senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, John Curtis of Utah, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, said Congress must vote to authorize continued military action against Iran past the window set by the War Powers Act.
"We are now getting closer to the 60-day point under the War Powers Act," Collins said earlier this week.
"If we reach that point and this is not successful, then I do not think that Congress should authorize further hostilities under the War Powers Act. Without a ceasefire that holds or without the peace negotiations ending this conflict, I would vote to end it."
In an April 1 opinion piece published by Deseret News, Curtis wrote: "I support the president's actions taken in defense of American lives and interests. However, I will not support ongoing military action beyond a 60-day window without congressional approval."
Tillis, who has occasionally broken with Trump, told NBC News on April 15 that since the conflict started, he has given Trump latitude on the operation, voting multiple times against efforts from Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to rein in the president's military actions.
But Tillis, who is not seeking reelection in November, said he is concerned that the Trump administration has not articulated its goals, and he doesn't see a resolution anytime soon.
Tillis said it would be difficult for him to support continuing the conflict past the 60-day mark.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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