Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued Thursday that a ceasefire with Iran delays a legal deadline that would otherwise force President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval for the war or begin withdrawing U.S. forces from the conflict at the end of the week.
His comments, at a Senate Armed Services hearing, come as the ongoing military conflict with Iran nears Friday’s 60-day mark — a threshold outlined in the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which says that the president has to remove military forces from a conflict within 60 days if Congress hasn’t authorized a war.
“We are in a ceasefire right now, which in our understanding means the 60-day clock stops,” Hegseth said in an exchange with Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat.
Kaine, who had asked Hegseth whether the administration would ask for a 30-day extension under the statute, pushed back immediately.
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“I do not believe the statute would support that,” Kaine said. “I think the 60 days runs out maybe tomorrow — a really important legal question for the administration there. We have serious constitutional concerns, and we don’t want to layer those with additional statutory concerns.”
Hegseth’s assertion marked a test for Republicans who have signaled they may support the next Democratic-led war powers resolution to withdraw hostilities. It could also offer cover for Republicans looking for a way to support the administration. Several Republicans said they would like the administration to make that argument more formally. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he wanted to see a precedent, while Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana said they want to see an official justification. “The right way to make that argument to Congress would be to put that in writing and send that up to us,” Hawley said.
The U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports is ongoing, Trump has deployed several aircraft carrier battle groups to the region and he’s ordered the Navy to “shoot and kill any boat” that threatens the strait by laying mines. That all means the deadline should remain in place, said David Janovsky, a policy expert with the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight.
“The current ceasefire does not affect the clock,” Janovsky said in an email. “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.”
Democrats agree, arguing that Hegseth is straining to justify an illegal war.
“A blockade is an act of war,” said California Sen. Andy Kim. “He’s supposed to be the secretary and the leader of our military, and he doesn’t understand the laws, and that’s not just international law, that’s our own domestic law as well.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana told NBC News that Congress doesn’t need to weigh in on the Trump administration’s military action in Iran because the U.S. is currently “not at war.”
“I don’t think we have an active, kinetic military bombing, firing or anything like that. Right now, we are trying to broker a peace,” Johnson said. “I would be very reluctant to get in front of the administration in the midst of these very sensitive negotiations, so we’ll have to see how that plays out.”
Trump said Wednesday that he is rejecting Iran’s offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. lifting its blockade of Iranian ports. The move is likely to prolong the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
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