{"id":92053,"date":"2026-05-01T01:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/92053\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T01:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:34:12","slug":"a-deadline-for-trump-to-end-the-iran-war-is-looming-he-may-seek-to-get-around-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/92053\/","title":{"rendered":"A deadline for Trump to end the Iran war is looming. He may seek to get around it"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the 55th day of the Iran war, US President Donald Trump told reporters he did not want to be pushed<\/a> to end the conflict quickly.<\/p>\n

“I don’t want to rush it; I want to take my time,” he declared in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

But more than eight weeks into the war, a deadline laid out by the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which could heap pressure on his administration, is closing in.<\/p>\n

Here is what the law says about a president’s power to wage war.<\/p>\n

What is the War Powers Resolution?<\/p>\n

Under the US Constitution, powers over the military are divided between Congress and the president.<\/p>\n

But in the 1970s, Congress became concerned about presidential use of armed forces without its authorisation.<\/p>\n

So in 1973, after the US had withdrawn from Vietnam, Congress enacted the War Powers Resolution<\/a>, which created a structure for the legislative branch to respond to the use of the military in situations that might lead to hostilities.<\/p>\n

What is the 60-day deadline?<\/p>\n

When the US and Israel began joint air strikes on Iran on February 28, it was done without congressional approval.<\/p>\n

Under the War Powers Resolution, a president is required to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing armed forces into hostilities.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

US and Israeli forces launched joint air strikes against Iranian military and government sites on February 28. (Reuters: US Navy\/Handout)<\/p>\n

Mr Trump did so on March 2, which started a fresh countdown \u2014 this time for 60 days.<\/p>\n

If Congress has not declared war or authorised the use of force when that period expires, the president is required to remove American forces from hostilities.<\/p>\n

The 60-day period ends on Friday, May 1, local time.<\/p>\n

Is Congress likely to approve operations?<\/p>\n

So far, Congress has chosen not to declare or authorise the war, nor has the legislative branch revealed how it plans to proceed when the deadline expires.<\/p>\n

Trump’s ‘end of civilisation’ threat is haunting him<\/a><\/p>\n

Donald Trump has survived what may have brought down many presidents before him. But the “end of civilisation” threat, as it’s become known, has exposed a vulnerability he has not faced before.<\/p>\n

Republicans, who currently have slim majorities in both chambers, have voted down a series of Democratic-led resolutions aimed at halting the war.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has not confirmed any plans to authorise the war, saying he would gauge the party’s interest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A vote would force Republicans to endorse the conflict on the record, a move many would likely baulk at with midterm elections just months away.<\/p>\n

The war, which has driven up fuel prices in the US, is deeply unpopular among the American public.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A poll published by Reuters and Ipsos this week<\/a> found just 34 per cent support the conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a polling average model created by the Silver Bulletin<\/a> suggests 38.4 per cent support the war, while 54.8 per cent oppose it.<\/p>\n

John Hart, an American government specialist at the Australian National University, said many Republicans would be risking electoral backlash by going on the record in support of the war.<\/p>\n

“The war is unpopular, and members of Congress would be hesitant about actually casting a vote to support the war,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s particularly worrying for MAGA Republicans because in the election campaign, Trump promised to stay out of foreign wars.”<\/p>\n

When Republicans narrowly blocked a Democrat-led resolution<\/a> to halt the war with a 214 to 213 vote in the House on April 16, GOP Representative Brian Mast suggested<\/a> support for the military action was wearing thin within the party.<\/p>\n

He said the House could “have a different vote count after 60 days”, in reference to the May 1 deadline.<\/p>\n

Several GOP politicians, including senators Susie Collins and John Curtis, have indicated they would not support the war beyond the 60-day deadline unless Mr Trump gains congressional authorisation.<\/p>\n

“The 60-day trigger is a very important one,” Senator Collins said.<\/p>\n

“At that point, Congress has to authorise the military action to continue.<\/p>\n

“There’s a 30-day period where you could wind it down, and I will not support extending the hostilities beyond that 60 days, except for wind-down activities.”<\/p>\n

\"Thune<\/p>\n

John Thune has been tight-lipped on whether Republicans will move to authorise the war. (Reuters: Kylie Cooper)<\/p>\n

Dr Hart said it was unusual to see a lack of support from the president’s own party for a war.<\/p>\n

“Trump is complaining very loudly and publicly about America’s allies not supporting him,” he said.<\/p>\n

“He has said virtually nothing about the lack of support from his own party in Congress.”<\/p>\n

Could Trump get around the deadline if Congress doesn’t authorise the war?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

If Congress doesn’t authorise continuing the campaign, the War Powers Resolution allows the president to give himself a one-time, 30-day extension.<\/p>\n

To do so, Mr Trump would need to certify in writing that the extra time is needed to ensure the safe withdrawal of US forces.<\/p>\n

The extension would not grant authority to continue waging an offensive campaign, however.<\/p>\n

What happens if a president ignores the deadline?<\/p>\n

Presidents have disregarded the deadline in the past and been met with little pushback from Congress.<\/p>\n

Barack Obama continued military operations in Libya<\/a> beyond the 60-day limit and without explicit congressional authorisation in 2011.<\/p>\n

He argued the War Powers Resolution did not apply because “US operations do not involve sustained fighting or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve US ground troops”.<\/p>\n

In 1999, Bill Clinton oversaw an air campaign against Yugoslavia<\/a> that lasted 79 days without congressional approval.<\/p>\n

\"Wearing<\/p>\n

The White House has argued Donald Trump’s use of the military is within his rights as commander-in-chief. (Reuters: Nathan Howard)<\/p>\n

Democrats are exploring a lawsuit against Mr Trump, should he continue the war beyond the deadline, Time Magazine has reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But this route has also proved difficult.<\/p>\n

Legal challenges were brought against both Mr Obama and Mr Clinton and were dismissed on the grounds they lacked legal standing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The White House and some Republicans in Congress have argued Mr Trump’s actions are legal and within his rights as commander-in-chief to protect the US by ordering limited military operations.<\/p>\n

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also claimed on Thursday<\/a>, local time, that the clock on the 60-day deadline had paused due to the ceasefire.<\/p>\n

But Dr Hart said the War Powers Resolution refers to the commitment of troops, “and the troops are still there”.<\/p>\n

He said in the past, missed deadlines have been resolved when the president and congressional leadership reached “some sort of accommodation”.<\/p>\n

“Under normal circumstances, leading members of Congress would approach the president and work out some sort of accommodation,” Dr Hart continued.<\/p>\n

“But Trump is different. He’s not open to that sort of modus operandi, and so, it becomes completely unpredictable.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the 55th day of the Iran war, US President Donald Trump told reporters he did not want…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[32504,467,38,34,196,32503,32502,392,2910,1988,32501],"class_list":{"0":"post-92053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran","8":"tag-60-day-war-powers-act","9":"tag-congress","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-iran","12":"tag-iran-war","13":"tag-is-the-iran-war-illegal","14":"tag-is-the-iran-war-legal","15":"tag-trump","16":"tag-war-powers-act","17":"tag-war-powers-resolution","18":"tag-what-is-the-war-powers-resolution"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116496752001918570","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}