Senate

Top Armed Services Democrat on Iran war’s 60-day clock: No ‘timeouts’

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by Tara Suter - 05/03/26 4:58 PM ET

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by Tara Suter - 05/03/26 4:58 PM ET

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Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Sunday that there are no “timeouts” when it comes to the 60-day War Powers Act deadline.

“The language of the statutes — is, does not provide for timeouts like in a football game. From the day you begin — 60 days — the president has to comply with the law. There can be a 90, 30-day extension to 90 days, but that has to be requested by the president,” Reed told ABC News’s Martha Raddatz on “This Week.”

“We have to be notified. No such notification’s come through. The president’s ignoring the law. He does that constantly. This is not the first example, where he just completely ignores the law,” he added.

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that the 60-day clock for the conflict with Iran was halted when President Trump announced a ceasefire.

The president notified Congress of the military operations in Iran on March 2, resulting in Friday being the 60-day milestone at which point the War Powers Act necessitates the president to start finishing a war unless he gets authorization from Congress.

Hegseth said the administration believed the clock was paused when the U.S. stopped bombing Iran in early April.

“We are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire,” Hegseth said in an Armed Services Committee hearing.

Trump suggested on Friday that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional.

“It’s never been sought before, there’s been numerous, many, many times and nobody’s ever gotten it before, they consider it totally unconstitutional,” Trump told reporters.

“And we have to keep the pressure on. In contrast to President Trump, at least [former] President Bush came before the United States Congress and asked for authority to conduct operations in Iraq,” Reed said

“Now, I disagreed with that, I thought it was going to be a disastrous situation. But nevertheless, he provided Congress the opportunity to opine and decide, and gave him legitimacy that this president lacks,” the Ocean State senator added.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

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