Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., choked up on the Senate floor as he pointed to a bracelet honoring a fallen friend he said was «cut in half» by an Iranian bomb, turning a Democratic-led push to rein in President Donald Trump’s war powers into an emotional warning about the cost of failing to confront Tehran.

The Montana Republican and combat veteran delivered the fiery remarks in opposition to an Iran War Powers Resolution that would have forced the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress explicitly authorized the mission. The Senate rejected an effort to advance the measure Thursday in a 47-49 vote, but not before Sheehy accused critics of ignoring decades of Iranian-backed attacks on Americans.

«We didn’t start this war, we did not. But, we will finish it,» Sheehy said from the Senate floor. «And forever wars are not popular with anybody these days. Both sides of [the aisle] love to attack our forever wars. And I can promise you, being someone overseas wearing the uniform, when you’re fighting for your country, you don’t care what party’s in office.»

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Sheehy argued Democrats were right to call the conflict a «war of choice,» but said the choice was made by Iran’s regime decades ago — not by Trump.

«This is a war of choice. The Democrats are correct,» Sheehy said. «It’s a war of choice that was begun by a radical, lunatic band of terrorists that took over a beautiful nation 47 years ago.»

The former Navy SEAL then ticked through decades of attacks he tied to Iran and its proxies, invoking the 1983 Marine barracks bombing, the USS Cole, the Achille Lauro and terrorist groups including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

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«This regime that we are fighting does not care about our partisan politics,» Sheehy said. «They don’t care who you voted for, who you pray to, or where you live. They want to kill all of us. And they don’t just say it, they actually do it. And they’ve been doing it for 47 years.»

An armed member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) monitors the area while mourners participate in the funeral for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family in Tehran, Iran, on July 6, 2026. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Sheehy also invoked William Buckley, whom he described as «an American military officer» who was abducted and tortured in the 1980s.

«William Buckley was abducted in 1985,» Sheehy said. «He was skinned alive on camera by the Iranians.»

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The senator concluded by describing Iran’s ongoing retaliatory attacks as «the flailing’s of a nation in collapse» not strength, citing what he called «an occasional missile strike» on commercial boats and U.S. military members in the Middle East. Meanwhile he encouraged his congressional colleagues to «think about the people who are deployed right now standing on that wall with a loaded weapon who volunteered to defend our country and our way of life» in what Sheehy described as a «just war.»

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., showed his solidarity with the people of Iran by hopping on a social media trend in which he used a burning photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to light a cigarette. (Courtesy of Sen. Tim Sheehy’s Office)

«Last time I checked, we wiped these bastards out … because they deserve it,» Sheehy said. «We did not start a war with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), they started it with us 47 years ago and their attacks have gone unanswered for half a century. It is time to fix this problem and make sure another generation of Americans does not have to fight this murderous, savage adversary.»

El senador brasileño Flávio Bolsonaro difundió en sus redes sociales un video con un mensaje donde ofreció disculpas a su madrastra, la ex primera dama Michelle Bolsonaro, luego de un enfrentamiento que se coló en la campaña electoral, y lanzó un llamado a la unidad de la militancia conservadora, justo antes de lanzar oficialmente su candidatura a la presidencia de Brasil.

La crisis en la familia Bolsonaro se desató a fines de junio, cuando la esposa del ex presidente Jair Bolsonaro declaró que su hijastro la «humilló» y «maltrató», y deslizó su intención de no apoyarlo en las elecciones.

Flavio perdió el apoyo de parte del electorado femenino evangélico, donde Michelle tiene alta aprobación. El encontronazo entre el senador, de 45 años y su madrastra, de 44, agudizó las divisiones en la derecha brasileña, cuando los sondeos de intención de voto muestran un repunte del presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, quien buscará su reelección.

En el video publicado el jueves, el hijo mayor del ex presidente Jair Bolsonaro arremetió contra Lula da Silva, que irá tras su cuarto mandato no consecutivo. Aseguró que Brasil «no soporta cuatro años más» de alguien que ya tuvo «tres mandatos para hacer, y no hizo».

Y afirmó que, para «liberar» y «llevar prosperidad» a Brasil, necesita que «todos entren en campo» y lo «ayuden».

En ese sentido, Flávio destacó públicamente la trayectoria de Michelle al frente de la sección femenina del Partido Liberal y valoró su labor en diversas causas sociales.

A la vez, enfatizó el papel crucial de la ex primera dama en el cuidado de Jair Bolsonaro debido a diversos problemas de salud, y quien cumple en prisión domiciliaria su condena a 27 años por intento de golpe de Estado.

«Yo no soy perfecto y una vez más pido disculpas por algunos momentos que causaron incomodidad. Como somos personas públicas, esto acaba siendo explotado por nuestros opositores. Nunca fue mi intención faltarle el respeto a nadie, y menos a la esposa de mi padre», afirmó el senador.

Asimismo, instó a los seguidores del movimiento bolsonarista a dejar de lado los conflictos y concentrarse en el «objetivo principal, que es rescatar a Brasil».

En ese sentido, invitó a Michelle Bolsonaro a trabajar en conjunto para construir un proyecto político orientado hacia un país «más seguro, próspero y lleno de esperanza» y a evitar que los desacuerdos familiares se conviertan en insumos para ataques de los sectores opositores.

La ex primera dama aceptó las disculpas. «Te perdono. Vamos a sentarnos, conversar, ajustar los detalles y, juntos, reunir un gran ejército de personas de bien para rescatar a nuestro Brasil. Hagámoslo por nuestro mayor líder, Jair Bolsonaro», afirmó Michelle en la noche de este jueves.

La esposa del ex presidente señaló que es necesario actuar con el «corazón limpio y libre» para cumplir grandes misiones y «construir nuevas historias, basadas en la verdad, el respeto y la esperanza».

El mes pasado Michelle, una importante líder del movimiento evangélico, acusó a su hijastro de ser agresivo con ella y por ese motivo expresaba su intención de no apoyarlo en su campaña.

La inhabilitación política y el encarcelamiento de Jair Bolsonaro han provocado una profunda fragmentación en la derecha brasileña de cara a las elecciones presidenciales.

Sin la figura unificadora del ex mandatario para imponer un único sucesor, el espectro conservador llega al proceso electoral atomizado en cuatro frentes encabezados por el senador Flávio Bolsonaro, el ex gobernador agrario Ronaldo Caiado, el liberal Romeu Zema y el emergente antisistema Renan Santos.

Mientras la izquierda concentra toda su fuerza en torno a la candidatura de Lula, la primera vuelta presidencial en el país se perfila para la derecha como una contienda interna abierta.

A pesar de que Flávio Bolsonaro encabeza las encuestas del bloque conservador con cerca del 30% de las preferencias, la presencia de estos competidores representa un obstáculo clave para unificar el voto frente al oficialismo.

Candidatos como Caiado, Zema y Santos, cuyos respaldos se sitúan por debajo del 5% pero resultan determinantes para un balotaje, han endurecido sus críticas hacia el hijo mayor del ex presidente.

Esta erosión mutua y los duros cuestionamientos dirigidos a Flávio Bolsonaro por sus presuntos vínculos financieros han agudizado las fracturas internas, alejando la posibilidad de articular un frente derechista sólido de cara a una eventual segunda vuelta.

Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have a lot in common.

Both have long spells of absences from Capitol Hill due to health.

Kean was out for months this winter and spring. But until he returned in June, no one knew exactly what was going on. Neither Kean nor his office or family said a word about why the congressman was AWOL. 

Upon his return, Kean announced he endured a lengthy hospital stay for depression.

McConnell’s absence is similarly cryptic.

His office simply declared in June that the Kentucky Republican was hospitalized and receiving «excellent care.» 

Yet it took weeks to learn that McConnell was hospitalized for a fall and then pneumonia. 

The dearth of information fueled conspiracy theories about whether McConnell was even alive. It prompted a letter of inquiry from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) as to the senator’s well-being.

He told SiriusXM he hadn’t «heard a thing. Not an email. Not a letter. Not a call.»

But that’s not where the similarities between Kean and McConnell end.

During Kean’s absence, hardly a day went by when someone didn’t ask me about how they could potentially fill his seat. The same has gone on with McConnell for the past month-and-a-half.

There’s conjecture about whether their respective state’s governors, or even the House or Senate could declare their seats vacant since they haven’t shown up «for work.» The American electorate is angry right now. 

Prices are up. They’re disenchanted with politics. 

At the very least, they want to know that the people they elected are on the job. And if they’re not, voters believe they’re entitled to explanations from those who serve them.

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No one received timely clarity from either Kean or McConnell.

Which brings us to why some constituents think there should be a mechanism to remove lawmakers who are infirm or out for prolonged periods of time.

It’s not that easy.

Here are the constitutional qualifications for someone to serve in the House, according to Article I, Section 2: «No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.»

The Senate mandates are similar, as dictated by Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution:

«No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years, a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.»

Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution declares that «Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own Members.» It goes on to say that «with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.»

So, the Constitution is clear about the requirements to join the House or Senate. 

It also grants both bodies the agility to decline to seat someone and even remove them from office. 

But despite granting those authorities to Congress, the Constitution is silent on why the House or Senate might not seat someone. And, the Constitution is vague on reasons to expel a lawmaker.

That’s why we must rely on the standard established in Article I, Section 3 on qualifications of House and Senate members. 

It says nothing about health. It says nothing about mental capacity. It says nothing about attendance or dereliction of duty. 

It just determines the minimum criteria for people to serve in Congress. And if either the House or Senate decides they don’t want you here, they can either bar you at the door or kick you out.

Besides the House and Senate expelling someone, a governor must declare a seat vacant. And there’s nothing anyone can do to force someone to step aside.

The late Sen. Carter Glass (D-Va.) of Glass-Steagall fame, if you know banking law, fell ill in 1942. He was absent from the Senate for four years before dying. Glass rejected entreaties for him to resign.

The late Sen. Karl Mundt (R-S.D.) suffered a stroke in 1969 and couldn’t speak. Mundt’s wife nixed calls by Senate Republicans, demanding he resign. Mundt remained in office until early 1973, when his term expired.

Other lawmakers have missed swaths of time due to illness over the years prior to Kean and McConnell.

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The late Rep. Lane Evans (D-Ill.) was absent for extended periods, suffering from Parkinson’s Disease in the 1990s and 2000s.

Former Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) suffered a stroke in 2012. He missed more than a year before returning to the Senate.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) missed several months after he was shot in 2017 at the GOP Congressional baseball practice.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was away for a couple of months after battling depression shortly after he joined the Senate in 2023.

These are just a few instances of lawmakers missing chunks of time because of illnesses.

There is only one instance in recent history where the House or Senate took action because of someone’s bad health.

On October 31, 1980, the late Rep. Gladys Noon Spellman (D-Md.) suffered a heart attack. 

Voters re-elected Spellman a few days later. But Spellman fell into a coma, and she was unable to take the oath of office when the new Congress convened in January 1981. 

Regardless, the House took the extraordinary step of voting to pay her – even though she wasn’t a Member. It was obvious that the Maryland Democrat would never be well enough again to assume office. The House then voted to declare her seat vacant, compelling Maryland to hold a special election.

So, the House didn’t remove Spellman because of her being incapacitated. 

She wasn’t a Member at that stage. But, under Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution, the House asserted its authority to «be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own Members.»

It deemed that Spellman was not qualified.

The former President of the Maryland Senate then ran for the seat and won the special election. That’s how former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) came to Congress.

Spellman lived until 1988, never regaining consciousness.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S FINAL ACT REVERBERATES IN SENATE AS SISTER IS URGED TO ‘KEEP PEDALING’

Just before the Senate swore-in Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) last week, I received a call from someone asking if she was a «full senator.» I answered in the affirmative.

Either you are or you aren’t. 

You can vote. You can serve on committees. You can speak on the Senate floor. You have an office in the Capitol complex. It doesn’t matter how you got there. Darline Graham was a senator – via an appointment after the death of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

The Senate granted Graham the same committee assignments as her brother. That’s when someone asked if she could vote on the Judiciary Committee. 

Same answer. She is a senator.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) has appointed her to at least serve out the balance of Lindsey’s term, which expires in January. 

Darline Graham is now running for the full term which begins in January. But she must first make it through a primary – and potentially a runoff – in order to secure the Republican nomination. Then win the full term in November.

Note that we talked about McMaster appointing Darline Graham to the Senate. All but four states allow the appointment of senators. However, the Constitution bars appointment to the House. 

So if a House member dies or resigns, the state must fill the seat via a special election. That’s why some House seats sit vacant for protracted periods.

Lindsey Graham’s seat was vacant barely two days before McMaster tapped the late senator’s sister to step in.

Newly-appointed U.S. interim Senator Darline Graham Nordone, right, with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., left, speaks during a press conference announcing her appointment to fill the vacancy created by the passing of her brother, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, at the statehouse Monday, July 13, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (Sean Rayford/AP Photo)

This is why Republicans have such a tenuous hold on the House right now. 

There are currently 431 members. The breakdown is 218 Republicans, 212 Democrats and one Independent who teams up with the GOP. Extended absences by Kean — and to a lesser degree, Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) because of a major heart condition — made it hard for the GOP majority to operate. 

Resignations or deaths could really alter the balance of power.

But once someone is in a House or Senate seat, they’re in. There’s no succession plan for health.

Average Americans suggest that they would lose their jobs if they didn’t show up for work. Even with a serious health condition. 

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But the same thing happens in Congress. Every two or six years. People vote for the House and Senate.

Those lawmakers may in fact lose their jobs. But it might just take a very long time.