Hegseth Resets War Powers Clock As Deadline Hits
Ed Morrissey
Technically speaking, time just ran out for Donald Trump's war with Iran. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 gives presidents 48 hours to notify Congress after military action begins, and then has to seek approval from Congress to continue hostilities. Today is Day 62. So will Trump begin to wind down operations over the next 30 days, the withdrawal period specified in the WPR?
Er ... no. Presidents have never accepted these limits in the WPR as constitutional, a point to which we'll return in a moment. First, though, there's the matter of the clock and what pauses or stops it. And as I have predicted, Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth now argue that the war – and the WPR limit – ended at the ceasefire:
The Trump administration is on course to blow past an initial deadline for congressional approval for the Iran war on the grounds that the ongoing cease-fire stopped the clock on a 60-day deadline—an assertion met with outrage from Democrats and skepticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Under a 1973 law called the War Powers Resolution, the president is required to notify Congress within 48 hours of military action and withdraw U.S. troops 60 days later, unless lawmakers declare war or authorize the use of force. The expectation on Capitol Hill was that the 60-day deadline expires on Friday.
In testimony Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the current cease-fire with Iran, which began April 8, stopped the countdown. ...
“We are in a cease-fire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a cease-fire,” Hegseth said. “That’s—it’s our understanding.”
To quote one of my favorite philosophers, Mad Dog Tannen ... you thought wrong, dude. The WPR (also called the War Powers Act) does not actually contain any references to pauses or ceasefires, let alone allow them to impact the 60-day window. Section 5(b) is also fairly specific about the necessity of getting an explicit authorization from Congress to continue hostilities before or at the 60-day threshold, except when Congress is physically unable to meet:
(b) Within sixty calendar days after a report is submitted or is required to be submitted pursuant to section 4(a)(1), whichever is earlier, the President shall terminate any use of Untied States Armed Forces with respect to which such report was submitted (or required to be submitted), unless the Congress (1) has declared war or has enacted a specific authorization for such use of United States Armed Forces, (2) has extended by law such sixty-day period, or (3) is physically unable to meet as a result of an armed attack upon the United States. Such sixty-day period shall be extended for not more than an additional thirty days if the President determines and certifies to the Congress in w writing that unavoidable military necessity respecting the safety of United States Armed Forces requires the continued use of such armed forces in the course of bringing about a prompt removal of such forces.
more
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/05/01/hegseth-resets-war-powers-act-clock-n3814489
