Defense reporter covering Congress for @politico. Markup enthusiast. Self-described Huguenot. Send me your tips and sage grouse gifs: cobrien@politico.com
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2025: Senator Kid Rock proposes a repeal of the 2001 AUMF to reign in the the war powers of President Dwayne Johnson.
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
🚨 14 senators, including 7 Republicans, question Trump's reported decision to invite Putin to G-20 in Miami and urge him to reverse course.
GOP signers:
— Wicker
— Armstrong
— Cornyn
— Curtis
— Moran
— Tillis
— McConnell
foreign.senate.gov/imo/media…
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
Notable that Husted, who called for the war to end “as quickly as possible” this week, voted no.
Marshall and Sullivan also voted no. All three are in tight races almost a month out from Election Day.
The small GOP voting bloc added Tillis, but four votes weren’t enough to pass war powers, despite voter anger over fuel prices and the war. This is likely the last chance Republicans had to put their foot down on Trump’s war before the midterms.
foxnews.com/politics/4-gop-s…
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
US and Poland close to deal for large base with 10,000 US troops.
“We want the kind of U.S. presence that would reassure us, but not be threatening to Russia,” Poland PM Sikorski said. “And we hope that President Trump keeps the promise.”
politico.com/news/2026/09/24…
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The latest Senate war powers vote (maybe last before the midterms) to end the Iran war fails, 49-50.
Four Republicans voted with Dems: Collins, Murkowski, Paul, and Tillis (Tillis had previously opposed)
Fetterman voted against it with Republicans.
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
Cassidy says this morning that he hasn't yet made a decision on Iran war powers
Did a dive this morning w/ @connorobrienNH @LeoShane into the vote and the GOP's affordability anxiety:
politico.com/news/2026/09/24…
News: Cassidy says he is undecided on the Iran war powers resolution
Told me he has spoken with admin
Cassidy, if he supports it, is expected to be the fifth R that Dems need
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
BREAKING: Despite the court's order, a POLITICO reporter was barred from entering the White House this morning and had his credentials seized.
The court order was clear about its immediate effect and applied to all WH / USSS officials.
politico.com/news/2026/09/24…
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NEW: Trump's Space Academy directive set off a rush by states to make their cases to host it, with leaders from at least a half dozen states showing interest.
But as the high-stakes competition gets underway, it's far from a done deal.
w/@audrey_decker9 politico.com/news/2026/09/23…
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
Wow. Yet another GOP lawmaker in Congress saying it's time to end the war in Iran. Rep. Tom Tiffany R-WI missed last week's House war powers vote. He has always voted against measures to bring back US troops.
Wisconsin GOP candidate for governor Rep. Tom Tiffany today on rising gas prices and Iran: "I just believe we should be exiting Iran, that it's time to move on ... Time to come home, take care of business here in America."
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Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker ripped the decision to invite Xi for a state dinner.
"Had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome," he said. politico.com/live-updates/20…
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
SASC Chair Wicker on the Xi/Trump summit this week:
"Quite frankly, had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite XI Jinping to Washington for for such a lavish welcome here in the United States of America."
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
BREAKING WaPo:
JD Vance and admin officials are set to announce that they're removing hundreds of thousands of people from Affordable Care Act coverage — claiming that they were fraudulently enrolled in the program, according to three people with knowledge of the forthcoming announcement. washingtonpost.com/politics/…
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
Community note: "Congresswoman voted against resolution to bring immediate end to the war 4 times this year"
Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran. We need to use every option at our disposal to provide some relief from high prices.
That includes suspending the gas tax, pausing diesel exports, unleashing E-15 everywhere we can, reinstating the $1/gallon biodiesel tax credit, and creating a diesel relief program to help our farmers and truckers being crushed by the high costs.
While doing this, we should also ensure our highway trust fund is replenished, so that Iowans don’t suffer from crumbling roads and bridges while relief comes our way now. These actions to lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.
I am working every day to deliver bipartisan results for Iowans and I will work with anyone who is ready to tackle this challenge immediately.
Community note
Congresswoman voted against resolution to bring immediate end to the war 4 times this year:
clerk.house.gov/Votes/202685
clerk.house.gov/Votes/2026199
clerk.house.gov/Votes/2026282
clerk.house.gov/Votes/2026307
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John James voted against a war powers resolution to end military operations against Iran last week, along with 202 other House Republicans.
"We need to end this war quickly. Because war is terrible, and no one likes war," Republican U.S. Rep. John James says during a virtual press conference this morning.
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
New: In late 2024, FBI investigators had enough evidence to launch a sweeping bribery probe that could ensnare top lawmakers, including Sen. Susan Collins. Then Trump was reelected and eviscerated the FBI and DOJ teams handling public corruption probes. propub.li/4yLLwaF
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
Australia’s defense minister said Tuesday that F-35 fighter jet parts had been mistakenly diverted to Hong Kong, following reports US lawmakers were investigating the mishap.
cnn.com/2026/09/22/australia…
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
A month ago today, I asked Hinson at the Iowa State Fair if it was time to end the Iran war.
She ignored the question.
Now the answer: “the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.”
Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran. We need to use every option at our disposal to provide some relief from high prices.
That includes suspending the gas tax, pausing diesel exports, unleashing E-15 everywhere we can, reinstating the $1/gallon biodiesel tax credit, and creating a diesel relief program to help our farmers and truckers being crushed by the high costs.
While doing this, we should also ensure our highway trust fund is replenished, so that Iowans don’t suffer from crumbling roads and bridges while relief comes our way now. These actions to lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.
I am working every day to deliver bipartisan results for Iowans and I will work with anyone who is ready to tackle this challenge immediately.
Community note
Congresswoman voted against resolution to bring immediate end to the war 4 times this year:
clerk.house.gov/Votes/202685
clerk.house.gov/Votes/2026199
clerk.house.gov/Votes/2026282
clerk.house.gov/Votes/2026307
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
Joint statement from the Standing and Executive Committees of Correspondents of Capitol Hill:
ALT The Congressional Standing and Executive Committees of Correspondents stand in solidarity with the White House Correspondents’ Association and journalists from CNN, POLITICO and MS NOW whose access to the White House has been revoked by President Donald Trump in recent days. We in the Congressional press corps believe that resident press corps, whether on Capitol Hill or at the White House, play an important role in delivering vital news to the American people. Our committees stand behind the principle that the government does not decide what the press publishes or reports. We join the WHCA's call for the administration to immediately restore White House press access for reporters from CNN, POLITICO and MS NOW.
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Connor O'Brien retweeted
GOP Sen. John Kennedy, campaigning for Ashley Hinson in Iowa over the weekend, predicted Iran war will last a year:
"I believe that that war will be concluded within the next six months."
iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026…
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