As Iran war nears key 60-day deadline, Congress and Trump face choices

Politics As Iran war nears key 60-day deadline, Congress and Trump face choices on next steps By Caitlin Yilek Caitlin Yilek Politics Reporter Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation. Read Full Bio Caitlin Yilek April 30, 2026 / 6:00 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Washington — President Trump faces a key deadline in the war with Iran on Friday under a decades-old law that limits the use of force without authorization from Congress.The War Powers Resolution of 1973 lays out a timeline for when lawmakers must be notified of hostilities and when a president is required to withdraw American forces from a conflict in the absence of congressional authorization. Under the law, the president is required to give formal notification to Congress within 48 hours of introducing American forces into hostilities, which officially begins a 60-day clock for the president to terminate the use of force unless Congress has declared war or authorized the use of military force. The 60-day window The Iran war began Feb. 28. Mr. Trump formally informed congressional leaders of the hostilities in a March 2 letter, starting the 60-day clock that expires Friday.The law allows the president to extend the period for an additional 30 days to safely withdraw forces from hostilities, but it does not grant him authority to continue an offensive campaign. "It's not a 30-day blank check for the president to continue whatever hostilities he sees fit," said David Janovsky, who leads the Constitution Project at the Project on Government Oversight. Friday's deadline could set up an eventual clash with Republicans in Congress, who have largely been reluctant to break with Mr. Trump on the war, which has extended beyond the four to five weeks he initially pre...