Pentagon Dodges War Powers Deadline as Trump Weighs Return to Iran Strikes

The clock ran out yesterday on the Trump administration’s obligation under the Vietnam-era War Powers Act to obtain congressional authorization for hostilities in Iran. Yet Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed at a Senate hearing that the 60-day limit was effectively paused by the current ceasefire, allowing the administration to continue military operations without Congress’s green light.

The War Powers Act requires the president to seek congressional approval within 60 days of engaging in hostilities, unless Congress declares war or authorizes the action. The Trump administration notified Congress of its Iran operations on March 2, starting the countdown that expired yesterday. But Hegseth insisted that because a truce is in place, the “hostilities” have technically ended, a position backed by an unnamed senior official who told the Washington Post the conflict “terminated” on February 28.

This legal sleight of hand comes as Pentagon officials brief President Trump on options to resume large-scale strikes against Iran, signaling a potential return to open conflict. According to Axios, the heads of U.S. Central Command and the Joint Chiefs of Staff presented these options just as a handful of Republican senators attempted—and failed—to pass a resolution calling for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iran.

The administration’s maneuver echoes past controversies where presidents bypassed Congress to continue military actions, such as in Libya (2011) and Yemen (2024), without explicit authorization. This pattern undermines constitutional checks on war powers and risks dragging the U.S. into protracted conflicts without democratic oversight.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that renewed U.S. attacks would provoke “long and painful strikes” against American assets in the region, raising the stakes of any escalation. CFR President Michael Froman framed the situation bluntly: the worth of this war hinges on whether the ceasefire holds and leads to a resolution—or traps the region in an endless cycle of violence.

As the Trump administration sidesteps Congress, it deepens the erosion of democratic accountability in decisions of war and peace. The question remains: how long before the American people and their representatives are fully sidelined in the calculus of conflict?