Congress will vote this week onwhether to approvePresidentDonald Trump's already in motion war on Iran, in what experts are calling a "tipping point" for the unique congressional power to declare war, eroded for decades by presidents they say have stretched the constitution's bounds.
The Senatewill voteon its version of the legislation on March 4, according to Sen. Tim Kaine, one of the Democrats leading the Senate effort. The bipartisan duo of Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie have introduced legislation in the House to force a vote on the Iran war.
"The American people are tired of regime change wars that cost us billions of dollars and risk our lives," Khanna said in a videostatementon Feb. 28, hours after Trump launched the war. "Every member of Congress must go on record today."
The Constitution states that only Congress has thepower to declare war. But Trump has launched military attacks on seven countries this term, in each case, without a green light from Capitol Hill.
See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.Bahrain
Smoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Syria Syrian children stand on the wreckage of an Iranian rocket that was reportedly intercepted by Israeli forces in the southern countryside of Quneitra, near the Golan Heights, close to the town of Ghadir al-Bustan." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Iraq A plume of smoke rises near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 1, 2026. Loud explosions were heard early on March 1 near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Iraq Members and officers from the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Explosives Directorate inspect the fuel tank of a rocket that landed in a rural village in the Siyahi area near the city of Hilla in the central Babil province on March 1, 2026. Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the U.S. and Iran, warned that it did not want to be dragged into the war that started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Qatar A prayer appealing to God for protection is projected on the dome of al-Hazm shopping mall in Doha on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Qatar Motorists drive past a plume of smoke rising from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Bahrain A building that was damaged by an Iranian drone attack, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Saudi Arabia The empty terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is pictured on March 1, 2026. Global airlines cancelled flights across the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the region into a new conflict. In Saudi Arabia, Iranian missiles targeting Riyadh's international airport and the Prince Sultan Airbase, which houses U.S. military personnel, were intercepted, a Gulf source briefed on the matter told AFP." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates A food delivery bike drive close to a plume of smoke rising from the Zayed Port following a reported Iranian strike in Abu Dhabi on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates An oil tanker is pictured offshore in Dubai on March 1, 2026. Attacks have damaged tankers, and many ship owners, oil majors and trading houses suspended crude oil, fuel and liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Oman Smoke billows from an oil tanker under U.S. sanctions, that was hit off Oman's Musandam peninsula, in this screen grab from a video obtained by Reuters on March 1, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Kuwait Smoke rises from a reported Iranian strike in the area where the U.S. Embassy is located in Kuwait City on March 2, 2026. Black smoke was seen rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City on March 2 after the latest volley of Iranian strikes, an AFP correspondent saw," style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Saudi Arabia A satellite image shows efforts to control a fire as smoke rises in the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia after a drone attack, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia March 2, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Turkey People make their way after crossing from Iran into Turkey at the Kapikoy Border Gate in eastern Van province,Turkey, March 2, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates Delivery persons ride motorcycles along a road as a tall smoke plume billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates Pieces of missiles and drones recovered after Iran's strikes are displayed during a press briefing by the UAE government held in Abu Dhabi on March 3, 2026. Iran stepped up its attacks on economic targets and US missions across the Middle East on March 3, as the US president warned it was "too late" for the Islamic republic to seek talks to escape the war. As drones and missiles crashed into oil facilities and U.S. embassies in the Gulf, Washington's ally Israel bombarded targets in Iran and pushed troops deeper into Lebanon to battle the Tehran-backed militia Hezbollah." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Lebanon Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on March 3, including warning residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of an imminent operation." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Lebanon Emergency personnel work at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Lebanon Rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Jamaa Islamiya offices in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon on March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
United Arab Emirates Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
See how the Iran war's fallout is hitting the Middle East
See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of thewar launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.BahrainSmoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.
The United States hasn't officially declared war since World War II. But experts say the new war in Iran could be the nail in the coffin, effectively ending Congress' unique constitutional authority to declare war.
"If Congress doesn't step up here, then we've really crossed the Rubicon in a way that we haven't seen in the past," said Tess Bridgeman, a former National Security Council advisor under President Barack Obama.
Iran war powers vote likely to fail
In aletterof notification sent to Congress on March 2 and shared by CBS and other media outlets, Trump argued Iran's sponsorship of "terrorism" and missile stockpiles "pose a direct threat" to the United States that "became untenable."
"It is not possible at this time to know the full scope and duration of military operations that may be necessary."
It's unlikely that enough Republicans will cross the aisle to vote for aWar Powers Resolution, a measure that would rein in the Trump administration's three-day-old war in Iran. A handful of Republican senators shied away from taking a stand in January from an effort led by Kaine to stop Trump from further involving the U.S. military in Venezuela after the U.S. military captured Nicolás Maduro, the country's president.
Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri initially voted to advance the measure, only toflip during a mid-January voteamid pressure from the administration. The resolution failed to pass.
The War Powers Resolution holds that presidents must alert Congress to any use of U.S. military force within 48 hours. Then, they have a 60- to 90-day window before they must get congressional support – or call it off.
Trump's ongoing strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which began in September and have killedat least 140 peoplefrom Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, among other countries, have already blown well past that time limit.
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In a notification sent to some members of Congress in October, Trump argued that the United States is in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels, and that their drug trafficking constitutes "an armed attack against the United States." The administration has failed to provide any evidence that the people killed in the attacks were attempting to bring drugs into the country, and legal experts havetaken umbrageat the assertion that drug traffickers can be considered armed combatants.
Trump doesn't 'bother asking' for Congress' approval
Trump's flouting of Congress' authority to declare war comes on the heels of past precedent. His predecessors stretched the bounds of constitutional law for years, balking at requirement that a commander in chief seek congressional approval.
"It just makes extremely obvious and clear something that's been true for quite some time," said Timothy Edgar, a national security lawyer who served in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. "The president is not constrained by the Constitution and has not been for a long time."
Congress enacted the first War Powers Resolution in 1973 amid concerns in Washington that the Korean War and the Vietnam War – both started without an official war declaration – had stretched the president's power to singularly wield military force to a worrisome degree. Revelations in the late 1960's and early 70's that President Richard Nixon had ordered the secret bombing of two neutral countries, Cambodia and Laos,pushed Congressto action.Nixon vetoedthe 1973 legislation, but Congress overrode it.
For more than half a century, presidents have launched numerous military attacks around the world without a formal congressional war declaration, ranging from President Bill Clinton'sbombingof Yugoslavia to President Barack Obama'sair assault on Libya.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress authorized President George W. Bush to use the military against countries and terrorist groups the president deemed responsible. In the decades since, multiple presidents have relied on that congressional mandate to justify a grab bag of military counterterrorism activities, including thedetention of peoplewho had not been convicted of a crime at Guantanamo Bay and thesecret wiretappingof Americans.
Congress has repeatedly tried to re-exert its authority in recent years to no avail.
In Trump's first term, both the House and Senate passed resolutions tostop himin 2019 from indefinitely using the military to back Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen, and in 2020, from launching a larger attack on Iran after heordered the killingof a top general in the country's military. Trump waved away both resolutions with a presidential veto.
But at this point, the line between an all-out war that requires Congress to weigh in versus a limited use of the military outside the scope of a war is "political," not "legal," said Edgar, who gave testimony for the American Civil Liberties Union on the post-Sept. 11 authorization for the use of military force. The effect of that, he said, is that "the president can do what he likes."
Trump is the first president to "not even bother asking, or even making a case to the American public about the need for military action," he said.
Bridgeman said: "If this isn't a war in the constitutional sense, nothing is anymore."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Is Iran the end of Congress' power to declare war?