FILE – President Donald Trump speaks with reporters during a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Washington, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine listen. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File) If the Constitution were working as designed, and if both political parties acted in the best interests of the nation and weren’t obsessed with eviscerating the disloyal opposition, the U.S. skirmish against Iran would have ended. Having promised an immediate victory in what Commander in Chief Donald Trump first called an “excursion,” the U.S. has been drawn deeper into what increasingly appears to be an unwinnable quagmire.
So, make no mistake: This is war. But in a war, who has the power to authorize or make a formal declaration of war? Not the president. Only Congress has this responsibility. And it has deserted and fled from its duty.
The Vietnam disaster forced Congress to pass the War Powers Resolution in 1973 overwhelmingly over President Richard Nixon’s veto. The law is explicit. When ordering the U.S. military into combat, the president has 48 hours to inform Congress. Then after 60 days, without an extension, if Congress has not approved the operation — as it did in the 2003 Authorization to Use Military Force against Iraq — U.S. forces must be withdrawn. Of course, the president can veto that resolution. Then, as in the Vietnam conflict, Congress can cut off funding to end U.S. military engagement.
Congress’s first run at passing the War Powers Resolution for Iran in June failed to muster enough votes. On Thursday, the House approved another War Powers Resolution by a 214-208 margin, which was rejected by the Senate hours later in a 47-49 vote.
Even if the resolution passed, it would have been by a slim margin. Trump would have vetoed it, and Congress would not have overridden the veto. Now, Congress will adjourn in August, and the war will continue. This is outrageous.
Few Americans are aware of the huge costs of this war beyond the chilling economic impact affecting everything from the price of gas to fertilizers and basic commodities. The administration has acknowledged 624 wounded service personnel and 18 killed in action.
How many defensive and offensive missiles, smart and dumb bombs and other ordnance have been deployed against Iran is uncertain. But the numbers used by the U.S. and Israel are in the tens of thousands. On Apr. 8, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said the U.S. launched more than 13,000 strikes. Conceivably, by now, that number could have doubled.
Bloomberg reported in May that 24 MQ-9 drones had been lost in the war. Called “Reapers,” each one costs around $30 million. Substantial numbers of the drones have since been destroyed. Unconfirmed reports from last week said that eight Reapers that were still in crates on the ground were destroyed.
The point is that the costs of the war are huge. The administration has requested an additional $67 billion to pay for the conflict.
In March, 53 percent of Americans opposed the Iran War and 74 percent opposed sending ground troops into Iran. The opposition has increased. By earlier this month, about 68 percent of Americans opposed the war overall. As oil soars above $100 a barrel, even more Americans will demand an end to a war that seemed to make no sense.
Trump is now promising “revenge” attacks against Iran meaning he will go after civilian infrastructure such as bridges and electrical power plants. That could cross a line, since those strikes are intended to harm civil Iranian society, not military sites.
Worse, Iran can and will retaliate. Iran has selectively attacked desalination and power plants in the Gulf States. A campaign to destroy desalination and oil and gas infrastructure would be catastrophic. Gulf States rely on purifying salt water for virtually all their needs. A humanitarian disaster would be inevitable.
This is a war that has already spread to the Bab el-Mandeb Straits, bordered by Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It could escalate further. Conceivably with the surging oil prices and denial of access to Gulf fertilizer, the global economy would be shaken not stirred. While unlikely, a global recession is no longer inconceivable.
With Congress AWOL, what check exists on the president? A real Congress would have challenged the president on the War Powers Act. We are at war. If the president refused to get authorization, impeachment and possible conviction would have been an option. That has not happened.
This “skirmish” is headed in the wrong direction. And merely worrying about the future is an absurdly inadequate response.
Harlan Ullman is senior adviser at Washington’s Atlantic Council, chairman of a private company, and principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. His next book, co-written with Field Marshal The Lord David Richards, former United Kingdom chief of defense and due out this Fall, is “Who Thinks Best Wins: How Decisive Strategic Thinking Will Prevent Global Chaos.“
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