A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II lands aboard USS Tripoli on April 6, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps)
The U.S. war against Iran reached a key 60-day deadline for congressional approval on Friday that the Trump administration said it will not comply with because the conflict remains in a ceasefire.
Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the president is required to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing U.S. forces into hostilities and pull them out 60 days later unless lawmakers authorize the military action.
The administration informed Congress of the war, which began on Feb. 28, on March 2, meaning the 60-day deadline expires Friday.
But the Trump administration has dismissed the count. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators during a hearing Thursday that an ongoing ceasefire that began on April 8 “pauses, or stops,” the clock.
“That’s our understanding,” he said.
Trump officially notified Congress on Friday that for purposes of the War Powers Resolution, “The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated.”
Though the U.S. military has halted carrying out strikes on Iran, it continues to enforce a blockade that prohibits ships from reaching or leaving Iranian ports — often considered an act of war under international law.
Lawmakers from both parties have expressed skepticism at the administration’s interpretation of the statute.
“It’s going to pose a really important legal question for the administration,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Hegseth on Thursday. “We have serious constitutional concerns.”
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said that the law was clear and he would not support continued operations against Iran or funding for the war without Congress weighing in.
“As we reach this 60-day mark, it is time for decision-making from both the administration and from Congress — and that can happen in league with one another, not in conflict,” he said in a statement Thursday.
He said he was engaged in discussions with Senate colleagues and the administration on a path forward “that honors our respective constitutional roles, clearly outlines objectives and guidelines, and is in the best interest of the country and our service members.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in a floor speech on Thursday that she would introduce an authorization for the use of force (AUMF), which she noted should precede wars, for the Iran conflict when the Senate returns from recess on May 11.
Congress passed such measures for the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War.
“An AUMF recognizes the reality that the U.S. military is already engaged and provides structure and clarity by requiring the administration to define what we’re trying to achieve and the means of achieving it,” Murkowski said. “It requires reporting to Congress, and it brings transparency where little has existed over the past two months.”
The Senate on Thursday blocked the latest Democratic-led resolution to force Trump to remove troops from hostilities against Iran that have not been approved by Congress. Only two Republicans supported the effort: Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine.
Collins, who had voted against similar measures five previous times, said the 60-day mark was a turning point for her.
“That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” she said.
Other lawmakers have argued for giving Trump more time or have not given the timeline much weight.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., introduced a resolution last month to exempt from the timeline days of ceasefire or talks to reach one. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters Thursday that he had not been “too concerned” about the deadline.
Experts have generally rejected the Trump administration’s reading of the War Powers Resolution, which Congress passed over former President Richard Nixon’s veto following prolonged U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.
“The current ceasefire does not affect the clock,” said David Janovsky of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan government watchdog group. “The War Powers Resolution is written in very broad terms. It refers to ‘hostilities,’ not ‘war,’ and it even covers situations where hostilities are imminent but not actually occurring.”
But Stephen Rademaker, an attorney and a former assistant secretary of state during the Bush administration, wrote in The Washington Post on Thursday that there has been a long presidential precedent for stopping the clock as soon as the shooting stopped.
“Every president since the resolution’s enactment in 1973 has considered its ’60-day clock’ unconstitutional, and no president has conceded that he was bound by it,” he wrote.
