1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

Congress must immediately invoke and enforce the War Powers Resolution to end President Trump’s unauthorized war with Iran unless Congress openly debates and specifically authorizes continued hostilities. The War Powers Resolution requires the president to notify Congress when U.S. forces are introduced into hostilities, and it requires those hostilities to end within 60 days unless Congress declares war or grants specific authorization. That 60-day clock is now expiring. Congress cannot allow the deadline to pass. Congress must not allow an unauthorized war to continue by inertia. This war is also making America less safe. Iran did not have a nuclear weapon before Trump launched this conflict. But every strike, threat, and blockade strengthens the argument among Iranian hardliners that only a nuclear deterrent can protect them from future attack. Congress cannot keep pretending to be a spectator. If members support continuing hostilities with Iran, they should vote to authorize them. If they do not, they should vote to stop them. What they cannot do is hide behind silence while the president wages war without constitutional authority. Invoke the War Powers Resolution. Require a public vote. End unauthorized hostilities with Iran now.