Republicans Face Crucial Test on Iran War as 60-Day Deadline Looms

Over the past six weeks, Republicans in Congress have largely stood behind President Donald Trump as he launched and escalated a war in Iran without their approval. But that support may soon be severely tested as the conflict nears its 60th day, and Congress's constitutional authority to declare war runs up against a statutory deadline that even Trump may not be able to ignore.

Under the War Powers Act of 1973, presidents must terminate military operations after 60 days unless Congress has voted to declare war or passed legislation to authorize the use of force. The law allows for a single 30-day extension, but only if the president certifies to Congress in writing that additional time is necessary to ensure the safe withdrawal of U.S. troops. So far, Congress has not approved any authorization for the use of military force tied to Iran.

"By law, we got to either approve continued operations or stop,” Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, tells TIME. “If it’s not approved, by law they have to stop their operations.”

The U.S. military campaign, which began on Feb. 28, will reach the 60-day mark on April 29, but Trump has until May 1 to seek congressional approval to continue operations in Iran since he formally notified Congress of the strikes on March 2, when the 60-day clock is triggered. Many lawmakers in both parties have pointed to May 1 as both a legal inflection point and a moment of reckoning for the legislative branch: They can either end the war or give it a stamp of approval to continue indefinitely.

The approaching date is emerging as a moment of consequence for a Republican Party that has largely backed Trump’s aggressive posture toward Iran but is increasingly uneasy about the prospect of an open-ended conflict. As lawmakers returned from their two week recess, several Republicans told TIME they would draw a line at the 60-day threshold—though not all agreed on what should follow.

“It’s the law,” Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma tells TIME when asked whether Congress should authorize the war after that point. “They should.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on whether Trump plans to seek congressional authorization if the war extends beyond the 60-day window. Trump has at times avoided using the word "war," describing the conflict in Iran as a "military operation" or an "incursion," and has suggested he wouldn’t have to seek congressional authorization.

But virtually all Democrats and many Republicans do see that 60-day deadline as unalterable, meaning they expect Trump to formally request congressional authorization. 

Democrats are approaching the deadline as a moment when Republicans can no longer sidestep questions about Congress’ oversight role over the war. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has spearheaded Democrats’ efforts to push War Powers resolutions to end the Iran War, tells TIME that Senate Democrats are preparing to force additional such votes before and after the 60-day deadline, betting that the Republican calculus should shift as the statute’s requirements move from hypothetical to immediate. “Some are suggesting that this is a watershed moment for them and I hope that that's true,” Kaine says of the GOP.

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Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina is unequivocal that the U.S. operation should not continue without authorization. “I think after 60 days,” he tells TIME, “the way the War Powers Resolution reads is you either are articulating an exit plan that would make an AUMF [Authorization for Use of Military Force] moot, or you’re planning to be there for an extended period of time, which means the AUMF is necessary.” 

Tillis adds that how he will vote depends on what the administration tells Congress about the plans going forward, which he suggested needed to be more detailed than they have been so far. “It all depends on the information that gets conveyed to us about the strategic objectives, the timing, all that stuff needs to come before us,” Tillis says. “I've even heard some of the House chairs haven't heard that information.”

Bacon, a former Air Force general, says he would support authorizing the campaign if the President made a clear case: “He should come in and request approval from Congress to finish the job. He should specify what that means.”

Others emphasized that the timeline Trump himself originally laid out should guide the next steps. “The President said he wanted it to last weeks, not months, and he should stick to that goal,” Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio tells TIME.

But many Republicans are less prepared to impose firm limits. Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming tells TIME she is comfortable allowing the conflict to continue beyond 60 days without authorization from Congress, citing concerns about exposing military strategy. “I want to let it play out,” she says, adding that requiring the President to publicly detail his plans could reveal too much to Iran. Still, she acknowledged the need for Congress to be better informed. 

That tension is unfolding as Congress returns from a two-week recess, having been largely absent from the most volatile early phase of the conflict. In their absence, Trump has alternated between escalating rhetoric—at one point threatening to destroy a “whole civilization”—and tentative efforts to broker a ceasefire, including a fragile diplomatic opening through intermediaries.

The uncertainty has left lawmakers struggling to keep pace with a conflict that is evolving both militarily and politically.

The War Powers Resolution, passed over President Richard Nixon’s veto in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, was designed to prevent precisely this kind of prolonged military engagement without congressional consent. While presidents of both parties have questioned its constitutionality—and Congress has never successfully compelled a withdrawal under its provisions—the law remains a central point of reference as the deadline nears.

That looming confrontation over congressional authority could soon spill into an equally fraught debate over how to pay for the war. With estimates suggesting the conflict has already cost nearly $30 billion, the Administration is expected to seek $80 to $100 billion more through a supplemental funding package.

The request could effectively force lawmakers to decide whether to finance a military campaign they have not formally authorized—a dynamic that is already sharpening scrutiny among Republicans like Bacon, who said the White House must better explain its cost estimates even as he signaled openness to approving additional funds to replenish depleted weapons stockpiles. “They’ve got to tell us how they got their number,” he tells TIME. “$200 billion was unrealistic. That said, we got to refill our coffers. All those cruise missiles we launched, we got to replace them.”