Trump administration says its war in Iran has been 'terminated' before
60-day deadline
[May 01, 2026]
By SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is arguing that the war in
Iran has already ended because of the ceasefire that began in early
April, an interpretation that would allow the White House to avoid the
need to seek congressional approval.
The statement furthers 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.
A senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to
discuss the administration's position, said for purposes of that law,
“the hostilities that began on Saturday, Feb. 28 have terminated.” The
official said the U.S. military and Iran have not exchanged fire since
the two-week ceasefire that began April 7.
While the ceasefire has since been extended, Iran maintains its
chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. Navy is maintaining 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, President Donald Trump had until Friday to
seek congressional authorization 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 Sen.
Susan Collins, R-Maine, who voted Thursday in favor of a measure that
would end military action in Iran since Congress hadn’t given its
approval. She added that “further military action against Iran must have
a clear mission, achievable goals, and a defined strategy for bringing
the conflict to a close."
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 that
they simply transition to a new operation, which he suggested could be
called “Epic Passage,” a sequel to Operation Epic Fury.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies before the Senate Armed
Services Committee, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Thursday, April
30, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
That new mission, he said, “would inherently be a mission of
self-defense 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. Sen. Tim
Kaine, D-Va., who had asked Hegseth about the timeline, later told
reporters that the defense secretary “advanced a very novel argument
that I've never heard before” and “certainly has no legal support.”
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.
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AP writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
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