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Trump reinstated the Strait of Hormuz blockade with a 20% cargo toll and resumed Iran strikes, again defying the war-powers resolution

On July 13, 2026, President Trump announced he was reinstating a U.S. naval blockade of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, proposed a 20 percent toll on cargo transiting the strait, and directed U.S. forces to launch a fresh wave of strikes on Iran, declaring that fighting with Iran had resumed. He also pressed Gulf states to help fund the strait's "protection." The action continued a pattern begun in June 2026 in which the administration has repeatedly ordered strikes and blockade-enforcement measures against Iran despite a bicameral War Powers Resolution directing an end to hostilities absent a declaration of war or specific congressional authorization.

Part of: Trump Administration's Iran War Waged in Defiance of the War Powers Act

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On July 13, 2026, President Trump announced that he was reinstating a U.S. naval blockade of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and directed U.S. forces to carry out a fresh wave of strikes on Iran, declaring that fighting with Iran had resumed. Alongside the blockade order, Trump proposed a 20 percent toll on cargo transiting the strait — framed as reimbursement for the United States "guarding" the waterway — and pressed Gulf states to help fund its protection. The announcement followed days of escalating exchanges around the strait, with Iran reporting attacks on commercial vessels and the United States conducting successive rounds of strikes.

This marks a further escalation in the series of U.S. military actions against Iran since Congress passed the first-ever bicameral War Powers Resolution in June 2026, directing the president to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran absent a declaration of war or specific congressional authorization. Coming a day after a fifth distinct round of strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, the reinstated blockade and new cargo-toll scheme continue a pattern in which the administration has ordered and expanded hostilities despite Congress's directive to end them.

Why we recorded this

Congress holds the constitutional power to authorize war. In June 2026, both chambers passed the first-ever bicameral War Powers Resolution directing the president to end hostilities with Iran absent a declaration of war or specific congressional authorization. This entry records the president reinstating a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, imposing a 20 percent toll on transiting cargo, and ordering a fresh wave of strikes on Iran — a further escalation of the hostilities the resolution directed him to end. It extends a sustained pattern in which the executive branch has repeatedly disregarded the constitutional check Congress exercised for the first time in over fifty years.

Sources

  1. US, Iran exchange attacks around Strait of Hormuz — Al Jazeera primary accessed July 14, 2026
  2. The U.S. strikes Iran after Trump announces a renewed blockade and tolls in Hormuz — NPR primary accessed July 14, 2026
  3. Trump reimposes blockade on Strait of Hormuz, declares 20 percent US toll on shipping — The Hill secondary accessed July 14, 2026
  4. Trump proposes 20% toll on cargo through Strait of Hormuz; restarts Iran blockade — CNBC secondary accessed July 14, 2026

See also