Roving Periscope: As he prepares to resume Iran war, Trump cools Congress with ‘ceasefire’
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: On February 28, US President Donald Trump launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran, followed by a fragile ceasefire since April 7. To skirt a law, if the US resumes the Iran war, it is likely to rename it as Operation Epic Passage!
A 1973 law requires the US President to seek Congressional approval for any war that may continue beyond 60 days. To skirt this constitutional requirement and legality, the Donald Trump administration, which is reportedly gearing up for the next, deadlier assault on Iran, has claimed that the conflict ‘terminated’ before the 60-day deadline and that the ongoing ‘ceasefire’ is the proof, the media reported on Friday.
While the ceasefire has since been extended, Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, and the US Navy is maintaining a blockade to prevent Iran’s oil tankers from getting out.
The Trump administration has argued that the Iran war, which began on February 28, already ended on April 7, as the ceasefire became effective, an interpretation that would allow the White House to avoid the need to seek congressional approval.
The statement advances an argument laid out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during testimony in the Senate earlier Thursday, when he said the ceasefire effectively paused the war.
Under that rationale, the administration has not yet met the requirement mandated by a 1973 law to seek formal approval from Congress for military action that extends beyond 60 days.
For purposes of that law, “the hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28, have terminated,” an official said, adding the US military and Iran have not exchanged fire since the two-week ceasefire that began on April 7.
While the ceasefire has since been extended ‘indefinitely,’ Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, and the US Navy is keeping a blockade to prevent Iran’s oil tankers from getting out to sea.
Under the War Powers Resolution, the law that sought to constrain a President’s military powers, Trump had until Friday to seek congressional authorisation or cease fighting. The law also allows an administration to extend that deadline by 30 days.
Democrats have pushed the administration for formal approval of the Iran war, and the 60-day mark would likely have been a turning point for a swath of Republican lawmakers who backed temporary action against Tehran but insisted on congressional input for something longer.
“That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” said Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, who voted Thursday in favour of a measure that would end military action in Iran since Congress hadn’t given its approval. “Further military action against Iran must have a clear mission, achievable goals, and a defined strategy for bringing the conflict to a close,” she added.
How to skirt a law?
However, where there is a will, there is a way!
Richard Goldberg, who served as director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction for the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, said he has recommended to administration officials to simply transition to a new operation, which he suggested could be called Epic Passage, a sequel to Operation Epic Fury.
That new mission, he said, “would inherently be a mission of self-defence focused on reopening the strait while reserving the right to offensive action in support of restoring freedom of navigation.”
“That to me solves it all,” added Goldberg, who is now a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think-tank.
During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Hegseth said it was the administration’s “understanding” that the 60-day clock was on pause while the two countries were in a ceasefire.
Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel at the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program and an expert on war powers, said that interpretation would be a “sizeable extension of previous legal gamesmanship” related to the 1973 law.
“To be very, very clear and unambiguous, nothing in the text or design of the War Powers Resolution suggests that the 60-day clock can be paused or terminated,” she said.
Other presidents have argued that the military action they’ve taken was not intense enough or was too intermittent to qualify under the War Powers Resolution. But Trump’s war in Iran would certainly not be such a case, Ebright said, adding that lawmakers need to push back against the administration on that kind of argument.
