The Secretary of War Is Mocking the Need to Obtain Congressional Authorization to Continue to Warmonger in Iran

It has been 60 days since Donald Trump started a war in Iran without approval from Congress. By the terms of the War Powers Act, this is the point at which he can no longer use the already thin excuse that this is an “emergency” that allows the president to act on his own. But now Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is making an unconvincing attempt to wriggle out of that requirement.

The Washington Post reports:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued Thursday that the Trump administration can continue the Iran war despite a Vietnam-era law that requires Congress’s approval after 60 days of fighting, in an apparent attempt to stave off the rapidly approaching deadline.

His comments came in a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee where Hegseth asserted that an ongoing ceasefire between Washington and Tehran “pauses” the countdown.

The Trump administration did not ask Congress to authorize the Iran war before launching joint strikes with Israel on Feb. 28. Friday [May 1] marks the 60-day deadline, after which the War Powers Act requires approval from lawmakers for hostilities to continue.

Hegseth declined to say whether the administration would seek lawmakers’ consent, deferring to the White House. A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sen. Roger Wicker (Mississippi) the Armed Services Committee’s Republican chairman, told reporters after the hearing he has “not been too concerned” about the 60-day deadline and declined to say whether the Trump administration should seek approval from Congress.

Waging war without the approval of Congress is a flagrant violation of the Constitution. Unfortunately, that last paragraph indicates what made this possible: the determination of the Republican majority in Congress to abdicate its authority. But the powers granted to Congress in the Constitution were mandated by the people and cannot be surrendered.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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