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 an 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.

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. Waging and re-escalating a war Congress never authorized — barely a week after the House voted to direct its end — and inventing exceptions to the statutory clock hollows out the legislature's constitutional check on war-making. Lawful control of when the nation goes to war is a foundational safeguard, and its erosion belongs in the record regardless of the conflict's merits.