It’s been two months since the U.S. began strikes on Iran without authorization from Congress, so the clock is about to run out on the legal amount of time a president has to carry out a military operation without congressional approval. But the administration has given no indications they hope to make Operation Epic Fury legal.
Asked during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday whether an authorization or extension request are coming, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demurred, arguing that the current ceasefire with Iran has paused the 30-day clock.
“I do not believe the statute supports that,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Hegseth. “We have serious constitutional concerns and we don’t want to layer those with additional statutory concerns.”
A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a request from Defense One to clarify whether the president has asked Congress to vote on an authorization for use of force in Iran, or whether he will submit a written request for a 30-day extension that would give troops time to withdraw.
One or the other is required to extend a military operation past 60 days, per the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
“The current ceasefire does not affect the clock,” David Janovsky, acting director of the Constitution Project at the Project on Government Oversight, said in a statement Thursday. “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.”
Though the ceasefire began April 8, the U.S. has since instituted a blockade against Iran, Janovsky said, “an act of war in its own right, and one that has included U.S. troops boarding multiple Iranian ships.”
“And yet, Secretary Hegseth, you declared victory a month ago,” SASC ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said during Thursday’s hearing. “On April 8, you said, ‘Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory … By any measure, Epic Fury decimated Iran’s military and rendered it combat ineffective for years to come.’ “
Republican lawmakers have blocked multiple attempts by Democrats to hold a war powers vote. Senate Democrats on Thursday announced they would force an initial same-day vote, though a final vote wouldn’t be scheduled until Friday, despite the 60-day clock running out Thursday night.
