President Donald Trump faces a War Powers Resolution deadline on Friday. The law stipulates that he must justify a 30-day extension of his now-60-day, unauthorized war in Iran. 

Republican lawmakers and members of his cabinet are indicating they’re going to try to avoid the deadline by claiming the war isn’t actually happening right now. Poof! It magically disappeared.

From The Washington Post:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued Thursday that the Trump administration can continue the Iran war despite a Vietnam-era law that requires Congress’s approval after 60 days of fighting, in an apparent attempt to stave off the rapidly approaching deadline.

His comments came in a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee where Hegseth asserted that an ongoing ceasefire between Washington and Tehran “pauses” the countdown.

And from NBC News:

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Thursday said that it is not necessary for Congress to weigh in on the Trump administration’s military action in Iran because the United States is currently “not at war.”

“I don’t think we have an active, kinetic military bombing, firing or anything like that,” Johnson explained.

These statements flout the spirit of the law in question. Presidents are not meant to send the U.S. military on prolonged military missions without congressional consent. 

However, the ceasefire that the U.S. and Iran are currently respecting rests on incredibly flimsy ground. Trump is already sending memes to his Truth Social account telling them they better agree to his terms, or else:

If this administration and this GOP-led Congress does indeed try to use this “loophole” (of saying a temporary “pause” is happening, or that the war has stopped altogether), it will give future presidents the means to conduct years-long military campaigns if they want, without consideration from Congress.

It would go like this:

• Start a war
• Take a two-week break at the 60-day mark
• Start a “new” war

If that sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is. Then again, nothing about this administration is serious when it comes to following the laws that are meant to constrain rogue presidents.

Featured images credit:
Mike Johnson: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Pete Hegseth: Public Domain/Flickr