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Trump ordered a fourth day of Iran strikes as CENTCOM reinstated the Strait of Hormuz blockade, again defying the war-powers resolution

On July 14, 2026, U.S. forces struck Iranian targets for a fourth consecutive day and U.S. Central Command reinstated a naval blockade on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, backed by more than 20 Navy warships. President Trump the same day dropped a 20 percent cargo toll he had imposed on Hormuz shipping a day earlier, saying Gulf-state leaders had offered to invest in the United States instead. The strikes and blockade continued a campaign Congress had directed the administration to end through a bicameral War Powers Resolution passed in June 2026, without new 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 Tuesday, July 14, 2026, U.S. forces struck Iranian military targets for a fourth consecutive day, and U.S. Central Command reinstated a naval blockade on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, effective 4 p.m. ET and enforced by more than 20 U.S. Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft. CENTCOM said the strikes would "continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack" civilian and commercial shipping in the strait.

The same day, President Trump abandoned a 20 percent cargo toll on Hormuz shipping that he had imposed a day earlier, telling reporters in the Oval Office that Gulf-state "kings and emirs" had asked to invest "billions and billions of dollars" in the United States instead of paying tolls. Congress in June 2026 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; the administration has continued strikes through multiple rounds since, without new authorization.

Updates

2026-07-14 — Senate Democrats blocked the $1.15T defense bill in protest of the Iran war [4]

The same day, the Senate voted 50-46, almost entirely along party lines, against opening debate on the National Defense Authorization Act, short of the 60 votes needed to advance the roughly $1.15 trillion measure. Democrats objected to proceeding while the administration escalated the war on Iran; Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the bill "a permission slip" for continued military operations without congressional authorization.

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 a fourth consecutive day of U.S. strikes on Iran and U.S. Central Command's reinstatement of the Strait of Hormuz blockade, extending the hostilities the resolution directed the executive to end. It continues 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 military strikes Iran for fourth straight day, targeting 'emerging threats' — The Hill primary accessed July 15, 2026
  2. US reinstates Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing strikes — Scripps News primary accessed July 15, 2026
  3. WATCH: Trump says he's reversing course on Strait of Hormuz fees because Gulf states will invest in U.S. — PBS NewsHour primary accessed July 15, 2026
  4. US Senate Democrats block defence bill over Iran war, Israel integration — Al Jazeera secondary accessed July 15, 2026

See also