Trump tells Congress hostilities with Iran have ended, sidestepping war powers deadline

President Donald Trump moved to declare the Iran conflict over just as the 60-day War Powers deadline arrived, telling congressional leaders that “the hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated.” The White House sent the notice Friday to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate President Pro Tempore Charles E. Grassley, arguing that a ceasefire ordered on April 7 and later extended had paused, or stopped, the legal clock. The maneuver leaves open the central question now facing Washington: whether the administration has truly ended military operations or simply rewritten the timeline to avoid asking Congress for authorization.

Trump wrote that there had been no exchange of fire between U.S. forces and Iran since April 7, the day he ordered a two-week ceasefire. The administration has said the war was formally reported to Congress on March 2, which started the 60-day countdown under the 1973 War Powers Resolution and put Friday’s deadline squarely in play. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told senators the ceasefire means the clock “pauses, or stops,” while the White House says it no longer needs immediate congressional approval to continue operations.

That position is colliding with the reality of a still-active U.S. posture across the region. More than 100 fighter and surveillance aircraft remain deployed, along with two carrier strike groups and more than a dozen ships. The United States has also kept up a naval blockade of Iranian ports, even as talks have stalled and tensions remain high around the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea. Trump said the Pentagon would keep lawmakers updated on changes to force posture in a classified attachment, while he continued to claim authority to direct U.S. armed forces as commander in chief and chief executive.

Congressional Democrats have already forced six floor votes on resolutions aimed at limiting Trump’s war powers, and Republicans have blocked each one. The first break in GOP ranks came from Sen. Susan Collins, who said the deadline is “not a suggestion; it is a requirement.” Trump, meanwhile, told reporters he had given Iran a “final proposal” and said he was not satisfied with Tehran’s response, even as he added that Iran “wants to make a deal.” Earlier talks in Pakistan failed to produce a peace agreement, leaving the administration to argue that hostilities have ended while U.S. forces remain positioned for a conflict that has not fully gone away.