Trump tells Congress "hostilities" with Iran have "terminated"

Washington — President Trump connected Friday told legislature leaders that "hostilities" with Iran person "terminated," addressing a critical 60-day deadline nether a instrumentality meant to bounds the unauthorized usage of subject force.

"There has been nary speech of occurrence betwixt the United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026," the president wrote successful astir identical letters to House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, the president pro tempore of the Senate. "The hostilities that began connected February 28, 2026 person terminated."

The framers of the Constitution gave Congress the powerfulness to state war. Nearly 2 and a fractional centuries later, that authorization is erstwhile again astatine the halfway of a governmental and law storm.

At contented is the 1973 War Powers Resolution, a post-Vietnam statute intended to restrain statesmanlike authorization and guarantee that prolonged subject engagements person legislature approval. But arsenic the warfare with Iran enters a captious phase, the law's limits — and its ambiguities — are being tested successful existent time. 

The struggle began connected Feb. 28, erstwhile U.S. forces, alongside Israel, launched large-scale strikes connected Iranian targets, igniting a broader determination confrontation. In the weeks since, Iran has retaliated, planetary vigor markets person been disrupted and the Republican-controlled Congress has been reluctant to asseverate its law role. 

Under the War Powers Resolution, the president whitethorn initiate subject enactment without anterior authorization but indispensable notify Congress wrong 48 hours and terminate hostilities wrong 60 days unless lawmakers o.k. an extension. That 60-day clock, triggered by the president's notification to lawmakers connected March 2, reached its deadline connected Friday — a infinitesimal that has sharpened tensions successful Washington.

A increasing fig of Republican lawmakers person said the medication should statesman winding down the Iran campaign. Some person said they are moving connected authorities to authorize the medication to usage unit against Iran, which would bypass the War Powers Resolution statement altogether.

The Trump medication has argued that the ceasefire brokered successful aboriginal April efficaciously terminated progressive hostilities, and truthful paused the ineligible countdown. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth connected Thursday said that the ceasefire stopped the timepiece connected the 60-day deadline to get legislature authorization.

"We are successful a ceasefire close now, which our knowing means the 60-day timepiece pauses oregon stops successful a ceasefire," Hegseth said during grounds successful beforehand of the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

That argument, which the president made explicit successful his notification to Congress, did not transportation immoderate lawmakers.

"I bash not judge the statute would enactment that," Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said, adding that the 60-day deadline connected Friday would "pose a truly important ineligible question for the administration." 

"We person superior law concerns, and we don't privation to furniture those with further statutory concerns," Kaine said. 

Despite the ceasefire, the medication has enforced a naval blockade connected Iranian ports, which is considered an enactment of war, and the U.S. has threatened to imminently restart strikes. Just days aft the ceasefire was announced, Hegseth said the subject could instrumentality to enactment "at the propulsion of a button."

"We are locked and loaded connected your captious dual-use infrastructure, connected your remaining powerfulness procreation and connected your vigor industry," Hegseth said during a briefing astatine the Pentagon. "We'd alternatively not person to bash it, but we're acceptable to spell astatine the bid of our president and astatine the propulsion of a button." 

The U.S. inactive has much than 50,000 work members successful the Middle East. The president said successful his missive Friday that those forces are inactive astatine risk.

"Despite the occurrence of United States operations against the Iranian authorities and continued efforts to unafraid a lasting peace, the menace posed by Iran to the United States and our Armed Forces remains significant," helium said. "Accordingly, the Department of War continues to update its unit posture successful the [area of operations] successful prime countries, arsenic indispensable and appropriate, to code Iranian and Iranian proxy forces' threats and to support the United States and its allies and partners."

Congress has ne'er successfully utilized the War Powers Resolution to extremity a subject campaign, and determination are examples of erstwhile administrations interpreting the solution successful specified a mode that allows subject operations to continue. 

"Let maine conscionable archer you, connected the warfare powers, truthful galore presidents, arsenic you know, person gone and exceeded it," Mr. Trump told reporters astatine the White House connected Friday. "It's ne'er been used. It's ne'er been adhered to. And each different president considered it wholly unconstitutional. And we hold with that." 

In 2011, the Obama medication argued that it did not request legislature support for aerial strikes against Libya past the 60-day people due to the fact that the operations did not emergence to the level of "hostilities." 

During subject strikes successful Somalia successful 1993, President Bill Clinton's medication argued it did not request support from Congress due to the fact that the hostilities were not "sustained." During Clinton's 2nd term, the medication continued its bombing run successful Kosovo past the 60-day deadline, arguing that lawmakers had authorized the operations by approving backing for them.

Mr. Trump vetoed a resolution that sought to extremity U.S. subject engagement successful Yemen aft it passed some chambers with bipartisan enactment successful 2019. Congress did not person the votes to override the veto.