Just hours before a crucial deadline, the Trump administration has argued the war in Iran has been effectively “terminated” under the ongoing ceasefire.
Under the War Powers Resolution, President Donald Trump faced a 60-day clock — set to expire Friday — to either end the war in Iran or secure congressional approval to continue. Now, a senior administration official tells the Associated Press the U.S. and Iran haven’t exchanged fire since April 7, and that the hostilities have been “terminated.”
A U.S. official also told Reuters: “For War Powers Resolution purposes, the hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28, have terminated.”
Earlier Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued the 60-day clock was paused under the ceasefire.
“We are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire,” he said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
“I do not believe the statute would support that,” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine replied. “I think the 60 days runs maybe tomorrow, and it’s going to pose a really important legal question for the administration there.”
Senate Democrats also tried — and failed — for a sixth time to end the Iran war by forcing a War Powers Resolution vote Thursday.
“After two months of war, 13 service members’ lives lost, and billions of dollars squandered, it is time we recognized that the price we have paid is already too high. We must say no to this unauthorized war of choice,” Democratic Senator Adam Schiff said in a statement.
Republican Senators Susan Collins and Rand Paul joined nearly every Democrat in supporting the measure.
“The Constitution gives Congress an essential role in decisions of war and peace, and the War Powers Act establishes a clear 60-day deadline for Congress to either authorize or end U.S. involvement in foreign hostilities,” Collins said in a statement. “That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement.”
Still, many Republicans continue to defend Trump’s war with Iran. The president has “the right to use the military to defend the freedom of this country,” Republican Senator Rick Scott told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Thursday night.
When pressed about the cost of the war, Scott replied: “How do you put a price tag on limiting somebody’s ability to kill you?”
The president has also claimed the U.S. “already won” the war with Iran.
“We’ve already won, but I want to win by a bigger margin,” Trump told Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren Thursday.
“But we have. We have destroyed their navy, destroyed their air force, destroyed all of their — if you look at their anti-aircraft equipment, their radar equipment, their leadership, their leadership is destroyed,” he continued.
The Independent has requested comment from the White House.
