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Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to face tough questions on Capitol Hill this week as Congress threatens to curb President Donald Trump’s war powers, while the administration pushes for an end to the conflict with Iran.
Rubio will testify in four congressional hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday on the State Department’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year. But the Trump official is likely to be grilled on the ongoing negotiations to end the war and whether the U.S. military campaign should continue against Iranian forces and the country’s nuclear capabilities.
The U.S. and Iran have yet to agree on terms to end sporadic fighting. Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and potential sanctions relief have emerged as key sticking points in negotiations.
President Donald Trump said Monday that he “couldn’t care less” if the stalled talks were over, in an interview with CNBC.
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“I don’t care if they’re over, honestly,” Trump told the outlet. “If they’re over, they’re over. If they’re not, you know, I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring.”
The president’s comments followed fresh rounds of fighting over the weekend that tested the fragile ceasefires in place since early April. The U.S. military has shown no signs of ending its blockade of Iranian ports while Tehran has continued to flex its hold over the Strait of Hormuz.
Rubio’s Hill appearances come as both the House and Senate could advance legislation this week that would halt U.S. involvement in the war, absent congressional authorization.
A successful war powers resolution would likely be a symbolic blow to the administration given an expected presidential veto and the lack of a veto-proof majority.
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But the president may suffer a political setback as a growing number of Republicans are souring on Trump’s handling of the war.
In the House, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Tom Barrett, R-Mich., have joined Democrats in voting to curtail the president’s war powers — and more GOP lawmakers could follow suit this week.
The Trump administration has repeatedly argued that the 1973 War Powers Resolution requiring congressional oversight of military action infringes on the executive branch.
Beyond the war powers debate, Rubio is also likely to face questions about Trump accepting a deal that stops short of dismantling Iran’s nuclear program. The Trump administration has repeatedly said it would never agree to anything that allows Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
Some Republicans with hawkish national security views have warned Trump against agreeing to a deal that would let Tehran continue to project power across the region.
“Our commander in chief needs to allow America’s skilled armed forces to finish the destruction of Iran’s conventional military capabilities and reopen the strait,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., wrote on social media in late May. “Further pursuit of an agreement with Iran’s Islamist regime risks a perception of weakness. We must finish what we started. It is past time for action.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment.
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