A federal law requires congressional approval for military operations in Iran lasting over 60 to 90 days, a deadline some Republicans are tracking.
WASHINGTON -- As President Trump threatens a major escalation in Iran by a Tuesday night deadline, the Republican-led Congress is out of the picture. Lawmakers are on a holiday recess and won't return to Washington until next week.
But some Republican lawmakers have set a deadline of their own that is approaching at the end of this month: They say federal law requires the president to seek approval from Congress if military operations in Iran last longer than 60 to 90 days.
The Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war and fund the military but makes the president commander in chief of the country's armed forces.
In 1973, following the Vietnam War, Congress passed the War Powers Act, overriding then-President Nixon's veto.
The law mandates that the president notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying U.S. troops. After 60 days, the military operations must be terminated unless Congress has voted to declare war or passed legislation to authorize the use of force. The 60-day period can be extended for 30 days if the president certifies to Congress in writing that the continued use of force is needed to safely withdraw U.S. troops.
In an opinion article published last week, Sen. John Curtis (R., Utah) referenced the War Powers Act and the loss of almost 60,000 American lives in Vietnam to explain why he won't support military operations in Iran beyond a 60-day window unless Trump secures congressional approval.
Curtis added in a social-media post on Friday that he also wouldn't support funding for further military operations in Iran unless Congress formally declares war. "I stand by the president's actions taken in defense of our national security interests in the Middle East. But we must be clear-eyed about history and the Constitution," Curtis said. His office declined to comment further.
The Trump administration and some congressional allies have argued that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional. Still, Trump himself recently acknowledged that he was avoiding the word "war" when talking about Iran because of concerns around the lack of congressional consent.
"I won't use the word war because they say if you use the word war, that's maybe not a good thing to do," Trump said at the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner on March 25. "They don't like the word war because you're supposed to get approval, so I'll use the word military operation, which is really what it is."
On NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Rep. Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.) noted that Congress hasn't formally declared war since World War II, though lawmakers did vote to authorize other wars, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lawler said he believes the Trump administration followed the law when it formally notified Congress within 48 hours of initial strikes against Iran. He disputed the argument made by Democrats and a few Republicans that the operations so far have been illegal because there was no declaration of war, no authorization by Congress and no emergency created by an attack on U.S. forces.
"But yes, look, as this moves forward, if it goes beyond the 60- to 90-day window, then yes, Congress will need to take necessary action," Lawler said. "And I would support that."
The Iran war started on Feb. 28, putting 60 days around the end of April.
Since the war started, Republican senators have voted multiple times to defeat resolutions that would have limited Trump's ability to conduct military operations -- most recently on March 24. That Iran war-powers resolution, offered by Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.), was blocked almost entirely along party lines. Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) joined most Democrats in voting for it, while Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) voted against it.
Congress has never successfully used the War Powers Act to rein in a president and it is unclear whether the 60-day deadline will change how Republicans vote on such resolutions. But some have been tracking the date's approach.
"Clock starts ticking after 60 days, you're supposed to start exiting," Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) said last month. "So they should be mindful of that, because I'm gonna read the plain letter of the war-power resolution, and if we get into that window we've got to think differently."
Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) said in early March that there would come a point after 60 to 90 days -- or if ground troops were deployed -- when Trump would need to request authorization from Congress.
"The statute itself contemplates in 60 days the administration would have to come back to Congress," Hawley said. "That is assuming that they would remain in compliance with all the parameters, which I think they are.... I think almost always if we're gonna put ground troops into a protracted conflict I think you need congressional authorization."
Spokespeople for Tillis and Hawley didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) told reporters late last month that she had spoken with colleagues about drafting a formal authorization for the use of military force in Iran, or an AUMF. She said it likely would impose some guardrails and reporting requirements on the administration.
"I think there is interest in finding out what it might look like," Murkowski said. "Wouldn't we all love to know that tomorrow it's all over and things are going to be in a better place? But I'm just not thinking we're going to be in that place."
A Murkowski spokesman said Monday that he had nothing to add.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.) on Monday called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) to bring back the Senate early following social-media posts by Trump in which he threatened to destroy Iran's energy infrastructure and bridges if the country didn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump's postings and threats over the weekend were "unhinged" and "show an increasing mental and moral instability that cannot be ignored," Kaine said.