On April 17, 2026, Politico published a detailed report showing what many already suspected: Republican senators are in open panic about the Iran war’s political consequences. Not the human consequences. Not the 5,000+ dead. Not the constitutional crisis of an unauthorized war. The political consequences. Specifically, the ones that could cost them the Senate in November.
The quotes are remarkable not for their moral clarity but for their total absence of it.
What They Said
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.): “I hope that we are arriving at an exit strategy here to bring this to a close to preserve our security interests and bring down the cost of gasoline. The clock is ticking.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.): Called the impact on gas and fertilizer prices “a big deal” back in South Dakota. “We’re in planting season so if you didn’t buy fertilizer ahead of time, you’re really feeling it.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.): Predicted his party would keep the Senate majority but called the Iran war and related price spikes “headwinds.” Said the president needs to “help us get the vote out” but “the base alone is not going to be able to do it.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.): Said prices need to come down by September, “when swing voters start tuning in for the midterms.”
Murkowski Is Drafting an AUMF — Now
Perhaps the most significant detail in the Politico report: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she and a group of senators are actively drafting an Authorization for the Use of Military Force against Iran. She pointed to the 60-day threshold as a possible deadline for having the text ready.
Let that sink in. The war started on February 28. It is now April 17. The Senate has voted four times to reject war powers resolutions. The House failed by one vote to reassert its authority. Zero oversight hearings were held before Congress left for recess. And now — 48 days into an unauthorized war — some Republicans are finally getting around to the idea that maybe they should write down what the president is allowed to do.
The Gas Price Calculation
Gas prices are hovering around $4 a gallon. The Fed’s own Beige Book reported “pervasive uncertainty” across every sector. Fertilizer prices are crushing farmers who can’t even get quotes because suppliers don’t know their own costs with the Strait of Hormuz in limbo. The Iran war is costing 10,000 jobs a month.
And the response from Republican leadership is not “this war is wrong” or “this war is unauthorized” or “people are dying.” It’s “this war is making gas expensive and we have an election to win.”
That’s the difference between accountability and self-preservation. Accountability asks: should we be doing this? Self-preservation asks: is this hurting us? These senators are doing the second one. They supported the war. They voted four times to let Trump wage it without authorization. Now that the bill is coming due at the pump, they want an exit. Not because it’s right. Because November is coming.
Sources
- Politico: Hawley “clock is ticking”; Murkowski drafting AUMF; Thune on gas and fertilizer “a big deal”; Tillis calls war a “headwind”; Cramer on September swing voters; gas around $4/gallon. April 17, 2026.
- Newsmax: GOP senators hoping war ends before it costs them the Senate; Hawley and Murkowski quotes; Republican anxiety about energy prices and midterms. April 17, 2026.
- WQLN / NPR: Republicans want Trump to quickly end the war, stop picking fights with the Pope, and focus on affordability; midterm concerns driving urgency. April 17, 2026.