IRAN: US VP Vance To Hold Presser @ 11:00ET Ahead Of Expected Switzerland Talks

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is expected to force an eighth Iran war powers vote this afternoon. The largely symbolic vote comes after the GOP narrowly defeated a seventh vote 49-50 last week, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) becoming the third GOP Senator to back the measure. 

• Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who failed to make the runoff in Louisiana's Republican primary election on Saturday amid pressure from President Donald Trump, could be a potential swing vote for Democrats. Other wavering moderate Republicans, including Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Curtis (R-UT) are potential yes votes.
• Democratic Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) signalled this week that he is “pretty much locked and loaded” in his support of the US war against Iran. “Something like this is much more important than just voting what your base might demand. Because I think things are much bigger and more important than that. And Iran with a nuclear bomb is one of those things,” Fetterman told Semafor on Monday.
• The resolution can be vetoed by Trump, and the White House dismisses the War Powers Act of 1973, upon which the resolution is based, as unconstitutional. However, the votes ratchet up pressure on the White House to offer Congress greater oversight over military operations in the Middle East and provide more details on the Trump administration's exit strategy. The repeated votes also put frontline Republican lawmakers in a difficult position, voting in favour of an unpopular war ahead of the midterm elections in November.  

• MNI: US REDBOOK: STORE SALES +8.1% WK ENDED MAY 16 VS YR AGO WK
• US REDBOOK: MAY STORE SALES +8.9% VS YR AGO MO

• Quick bump lower for USDJPY on that post from Bessent, who describes excess FX volatility as undesirable. The pair moves from 159.10 to 158.72 in quick order. We noted overnight that the move back above 159.00 had prompted Japan's finance minister Katayama to recirculate the view that speculative moves in the FX market will be dealt with appropriately.