{"id":48002,"date":"2026-05-02T12:55:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T19:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48002"},"modified":"2026-05-02T12:55:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T19:55:33","slug":"it-needs-to-end-now-trump-and-allies-ripped-for-lying-to-dodge-iran-war-powers-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/it-needs-to-end-now-trump-and-allies-ripped-for-lying-to-dodge-iran-war-powers-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It Needs to End. Now\u2019: Trump and Allies Ripped for Lying to Dodge Iran War Powers Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"United<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference held by President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC on April 6, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Celal Gunes\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRepublicans are out of excuses and should join Democrats and stop this war,\u201d said one congressional Democrat. \u201cLet\u2019s put the pressure on.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 01, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday marks 60 days since President Donald Trump<\/a> formally notified Congress of the US and Israel\u2019s illegal war on Iran\u2014a key deadline under a relevant federal law. In a new notification obtained<\/a> by Politico, the White House<\/a> claimed the conflict has been \u201cterminated,\u201d but lawmakers aren\u2019t buying that argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s bullshit,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer<\/a> (D-NY) said<\/a> of the latest notification on social media<\/a>. \u201cThis is an illegal war, and every day Republicans<\/a> remain complicit and allow it to continue is another day lives are endangered, chaos erupts, and prices increase, all while Americans foot the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"US<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As Search for US Airman Continues, Trump Issues Latest \u2018Countdown to Massive War Crimes\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"President<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anyone Still Arguing Trump\u2019s Iran War Isn\u2019t Illegal Will Soon Be Out of Excuses: Legal Scholar<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Congressman Ro Khanna<\/a> (D-Calif.), who has fought<\/a> to stop Trump\u2019s assault on Iran since before it began, told Common Dreams that \u201cTrump knows this war is deeply unpopular with his base. He\u2019s trying to say it\u2019s over, but the reality is that thousands of US troops are still in the region, and food and gas prices are still going up at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Republican president and some of his key allies had previewed the White House position in various remarks on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook, the country\u2019s doing really well, and that\u2019s despite a military operation\u2014I don\u2019t call it a war,\u201d Trump, a well-documented liar<\/a>, told<\/a> reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. \u201cIran is dying to make a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Trump began bombing Iran on February 28, legal experts and US lawmakers have alleged violations of international law<\/a> and the Constitution, which empowers only Congress to declare war. However, both chambers are narrowly controlled by Republicans, nearly all of whom have refused to support Democratic war powers resolutions intended to end the conflict, most recently<\/a> in the Senate on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defenders of Trump\u2019s so-called \u201cOperation Epic Fury\u201d argue that he was allowed to strike Iran under the War Powers Act of 1973, which empowers the president to deploy military forces for up to 60 days as long as he notifies Congress within 48 hours. After those two months, he is required to end hostilities or seek permission from federal lawmakers to continue them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe seems set against doing so,\u201d Tess Bridgeman and Oona A. Hathaway wrote<\/a> Friday for Just Security. \u201cIf he refuses, he will take a war that is already doubly illegal and turn it into a triply illegal war. He will also make it clear, if it was not already, that he regards the law as no constraint on his use of the US military\u2019s lethal power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, as the latest Senate resolution was blocked in a 47-50<\/a> vote, Trump allies joined the president in suggesting that, as House Speaker Mike Johnson<\/a> (R-La.) told<\/a> NBC News in the Capitol, \u201cWe are not at war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we have an active, kinetic military bombing, firing, or anything like that. Right now, we are trying to broker a peace,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI would be very reluctant to get in front of the administration in the midst of these very sensitive negotiations, so we\u2019ll have to see how that plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X post: https:\/\/x.com\/SenBlumenthal\/status\/2050252063741792751?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2050252063741792751%7Ctwgr%5E9c64e76ce147fe6e19c81e471c5abd6649461779%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fwar-powers-deadline<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US and Iran agreed to<\/a> a two-week ceasefire on April 7, just hours after Trump\u2019s genocidal threat<\/a> to wipe out the Middle Eastern country\u2019s \u201cwhole civilization.\u201d That truce has since been extended<\/a>, but it and another deal for Israel\u2019s supposed targeting of Hezbollah<\/a> in Lebanon<\/a> are both \u201cfragile, temporary, and in danger of collapse at any moment,\u201d as Amnesty International<\/a> stressed<\/a> in a Wednesday statement calling on the international community to push for sustainable peace in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the ceasefire, Trump has maintained his naval blockade on Iran, which has responded to the war by closing the Strait of Hormuz to most ship traffic. Restrictions on the trade<\/a> route have driven up fuel prices around the world, including across the United States<\/a>, where new polling shows<\/a> that over 60% of Americans say the president\u2019s war was a \u201cmistake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth cited the ceasefire on Thursday when\u00a0questioned<\/a>\u00a0about how the administration plans to address the 60-day deadline by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.)\u2014a leading voice for war powers resolutions on Iran and other military aggression by the administration\u2014during a Senate Armed Services Committee\u00a0hearing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X post: https:\/\/x.com\/AKDay89\/status\/2050216304645124214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2050216304645124214%7Ctwgr%5E9c64e76ce147fe6e19c81e471c5abd6649461779%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fwar-powers-deadline<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth said that \u201cultimately, I would defer to the White House and White House counsel on that. However, we are in a ceasefire right now, which, [in] our understanding, means the 60-day clock pauses, or stops, in a ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interjecting, Kaine responded that \u201cI do not believe the statute would support that. I think the 60 days runs maybe tomorrow, and it\u2019s gonna pose a really important legal question for the administration. We have serious constitutional concerns and we don\u2019t want to layer those with additional statutory concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the notification to Congress on Friday, a senior\u00a0Trump administration<\/a>\u00a0official had affirmed that what Hegseth laid out is the White House position,\u00a0telling<\/a>\u00a0Reuters that the\u00a0US military<\/a>\u00a0and Iran have not exchanged fire since April 7 and, for War Powers Act purposes, \u201cthe hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28, have terminated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X post: https:\/\/x.com\/burgessev\/status\/2049903487132082210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2049903487132082210%7Ctwgr%5E9c64e76ce147fe6e19c81e471c5abd6649461779%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fwar-powers-deadline<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlighting Trump\u2019s ongoing blockade of Iran, US Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) called<\/a> Hegseth \u201cflat wrong,\u201d and declared that the Pentagon<\/a> chief \u201cdoes not get to rewrite the law because following it is inconvenient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another California Democrat, Rep. Sara Jacobs, said<\/a> on social media Thursday: \u201cTrump\u2019s war on Iran was illegal from day one\u2014Congress never authorized it. Tomorrow, the statutory 60-day clock runs out too. Republicans are out of excuses and should join Democrats and stop this war. Let\u2019s put the pressure on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a video released Friday, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) noted his role in the Obama administration\u2019s Iran nuclear deal\u2014which Trump ditched during his first term\u2014and emphasized the president\u2019s \u201clegal obligation to withdraw troops after 60 days, or come to Congress for authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

It\u2019s been 60 days since Trump started this war against Iran. But this war should've never should\u2019ve happened, and it needs to end. Now.

Under the War Powers Act, this administration is now required withdraw our troops or make their case and seek Congressional authorization. pic.twitter.com\/ebdQjvAQOW<\/a><\/p>— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) May 1, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>