The Standing

A daily, non-partisan record of US democratic norms — and the events that erode them.

    U.S. resumes Iran strikes for a second straight day, defying House war-powers resolution

    On June 10–11, 2026, the United States resumed major airstrikes against Iran for a second consecutive day, collapsing a ceasefire that had held since early April and re-escalating a war the executive branch began on February 28, 2026 without congressional authorization. The strikes came barely a week after the House passed a War Powers Resolution, 215–208, directing the President to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran absent a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force. The administration continued to assert that the resolution's 60-day clock did not apply because a ceasefire had "paused" it, pressing ahead with strikes over Congress's recorded objection.

    Jurisdiction
    federal
    Location
    Washington, D.C.

    Abuses documented

    Actors

    • Donald J. Trump
    • Pete Hegseth
    • U.S. Department of Defense / U.S. Central Command
    • The White House

    Why we recorded this

    The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to declare war, and the 1973 War Powers Resolution requires a president to end unauthorized hostilities within 60 days. Here the executive branch waged and then re-escalated a war against Iran that Congress never authorized — and did so barely a week after the House formally voted to direct an end to those hostilities. When a president keeps fighting over Congress's recorded objection and invents exceptions to the statutory clock, the legislature's constitutional check on war-making is hollowed out. The Standing records this because lawful control of when the nation goes to war is a foundational democratic safeguard, and its erosion belongs in the record regardless of the conflict's merits.

    Sources

    1. U.S. Continues to Strike Iran for a Second Day in a Row — Democracy Now! primary accessed June 11, 2026
    2. Trump says deadline for Congress to approve Iran war doesn't apply, claiming hostilities have 'terminated' — PBS NewsHour / Associated Press primary accessed June 11, 2026
    3. House passes war powers resolution directing Trump to end hostilities with Iran — NPR secondary accessed June 11, 2026
    4. House passes war powers resolution to push Trump to end Iran war — The Washington Post secondary accessed June 11, 2026
    5. House Votes to Restrain Trump's Iran War Powers in Bipartisan Rebuke — TIME secondary accessed June 11, 2026

    See also