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The Iran war is close to the 60-day mark — making congressional Republicans anxious enough to consider subjecting President Donald Trump’s powers to significant public debate.
The conflict will hit that critical milestone on Friday. But it’s already triggering a shift on Capitol Hill among Republicans who’ve grown weary of lawmakers taking a back seat to the executive branch. Some of them are actively discussing whether to authorize the war, saying it’s a weighty constitutional matter that requires Congress to hold a War Powers Act debate.
“It’s a big deal. … There are a number of us having discussions about what that day means, what our response should be. It’s important to me that Congress realizes their responsibility, and so I’ll be actively engaged in making sure we do that,” Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, told Semafor.
Republicans won’t suddenly start backing Democratic measures to cease hostilities. But they do believe the legislative branch can’t keep standing by while the Trump administration deploys thousands of US troops to the Middle East for a war with no clear endgame.
“At some point, people cross some sort of threshold and start to be very uncomfortable with it. I don’t know exactly where that is, but I am sensing restlessness among many of my colleagues,” said another GOP senator familiar with intraparty dynamics.
There’s more evidence of that restlessness: Four Republican senators introduced a bill on Tuesday to cut tariffs and duties on Moroccan fertilizer imports as fertilizer prices rise because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Many Republicans have accepted reassurances from the administration that Trump won’t send ground troops, and the GOP Congress writ large is reluctant to get directly involved in the war.
That dynamic may change after Friday.
“The 60-days [mark] is very important to me. The War Powers Act makes clear that at the 60-day point the Congress needs to authorize any further military action,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told Semafor. “Sixty days is a trigger that requires Congress to act.”
There are several potential ways for the Trump administration to stave off Republican interest in invoking the War Powers Act’s 60-day deadline to seek congressional authorization, including commencing with a 30-day withdrawal period that would effectively buy the administration until June. Officials also could argue they don’t need to comply with the letter of the law.
And the administration could also contend that the ceasefire with Iran shouldn’t count towards the 60-day clock.
“We haven’t been doing combat over the last two weeks. I think it merits good discussion,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said of military authorization. “In the end, I want us to finish the job.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who is among the senators contemplating a war authorization, said: “If they need an extension for 30 days, come to us. But you’ve got to talk to us.” She warned that if that doesn’t happen, “you may see a change in the situation” in Congress.
Both parties say they expect engagement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio by the end of the week; Rubio quickly notified Congress in early March that the conflict had started.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Rubio’s “been pretty careful to comply with the statute. My hope is they’ll notify us that they’re drawing down offensive operations.”
“The secretary of state, national security adviser, archivist, and viceroy of Venezuela owes us some engagement on this point, and as a former senator — more than anyone — he’s the one I look to to do that,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.
A White House official told Semafor that “the administration is in active conversations with the Hill on this topic,” and warned lawmakers against trying to “score political points.”
“Trump has been transparent with the Hill since before Operation Epic Fury began,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement, pointing to “over 30 bipartisan briefings.”
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Democrats have forced a steady drumbeat of votes on Iran, but have won over only Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio. Curtis said he couldn’t vote for the Democratic war powers proposals even after 60 days.
“I have not seen a Democratic resolution that’s serious. It’s about poking the president,” Curtis said. But, he added: “If we’re going to be at war and it goes past the timeframe, Congress needs to authorize it. So what does that look like?”
He said he could contemplate supporting a resolution that prohibits ground troops. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Congress could approve a yearlong authorization with opportunities to review it.
“This is going to be weeks or months away from resolution, and more likely the latter. So why not send a very clear signal to Iran — if they’re playing the waiting game, because they think the political winds are going to change — to pass an [authorization],” Tillis said.
In the House, moderate Republicans aren’t showing any signs of breaking with Trump yet on the war, even as they also weigh the possibility of a formal authorization. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who introduced his own war powers measure, wanted the Trump administration to seek authorization from Congress after the 60-day period ran out.
But he’s still inclined to vote against Democratic-led measures right now: “We can’t punish ceasefires. We’ve got to reward them.”
“We either enforce the War Powers Act of 1973 or we change it. Violating it is not an option,” he said. Fitzpatrick’s war powers measure would require the end of military operations 60 days from the start of the war unless Congress authorized them, with a 30-day withdrawal window, though ceasefires would not count towards the 60-day period.
Democrats say that rather than complaining about their resolutions, Republicans need to put up their own.
“I’m sorry, their quibbling of words does not in any way excuse them of their obligation to demand a 60-day presidential review according to the War Powers Act,” said Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who helped organize Democrats’ barrage of Iran votes.
Other Democrats think Republicans will face increased pressure to break with Trump after the 60-day mark, with their leverage improved if they can show unanimity on a war powers resolution.
Congressional Progressive Caucus members have teed up a series of war powers measures to force even more votes in the coming weeks, and centrists have pushed another resolution to rein in the war that would also give the president a window to withdraw troops from hostilities.
“Some have said [House Republicans] didn’t want to do anything until the 60 days was up,” said Rep. Greg Meeks, D-N.Y. “I want to make sure we go back to making sure we have all Dems, but also get some more Republicans.”
Room for Disagreement
Not everyone is buying the focus on the 60-day mark.
“As a practical matter, nobody is walking around the United States Senate going, ‘Ope! It’s 20 seconds till 60 days,’” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “What we want to do is get our job done in Iran and get out.”
Burgess, Nicholas, and Eleanor’s View
Republicans have wanted the war over quickly ever since it began. That feeling is only more acute now.
But no one in a congressional majority, regardless of the party, likes voting on war authorizations — thanks to the political liability they became during the Iraq War.
So, while Republicans will dive into the war debate after the 60-day mark if they have to, the solution they’d prefer is for Trump to use the 30-day withdrawal period and end the conflict.
Notable
- Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., at Semafor World Economy called the 60-day mark “an opportunity for [lawmakers] to articulate any concerns.”
- Some Democratic lawmakers told TIME Magazine they’re considering suing Trump if the Iran war stretches past 60 days without authorization.