The United States and Israel carried out military strikes against Iran on Saturday, Feb. 28 targeting the country’s top leaders and plunging the Middle East into a conflict that President Donald Trump said would end a security threat to the U.S. and give Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.
While the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the sole power to declare war, a power last officially exercised in 1942 for World War Two, presidents often act under the War Powers Act of 1973 or their authority as Commander in Chief to engage in military actions without formal Congressional approval.
Every president since Gerald Ford has used the resolution to initiate or justify military actions in conflicts including Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Libya, Iraq and drone strikes in the Middle East.
Even though the U.S. carried out major military strikes against Iran on Saturday alongside Israel, the United States has not formally declared war.
In the U.S., only Congress can declare war. Lawmakers have not voted on a declaration or passed a new authorization related to Iran. Instead, the president ordered the strikes under his powers as commander in chief, calling them “major combat operations” aimed at stopping what he described as immediate threats.
The Pentagon named the action Operation Epic Fury, a term typically used for military campaigns that fall short of a declared war. Fighting is underway, and Iran has retaliated but under U.S. law, the country is not officially at war unless Congress says so.
As expected, Congress is sharply divided between the Republicans and Democrats.
Republican leaders and national security hawks largely praised the strikes, saying Iran posed an urgent threat and diplomacy had failed.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson backed Trump’s decision and said senior lawmakers had been briefed in advance.
Senators Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton called the operation necessary and long overdue, with Graham openly endorsing regime change in Iran.
Many Democrats, and a few Republicans, condemned the strikes as unauthorized, warning the president bypassed Congress.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, said he would join again with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, to force a vote on the War Powers Act.
“I am opposed to this War,” Massie said on social media. “This is not ‘America First.’”
Administration officials notified members of the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” before the strikes, but Congress did not vote on a declaration of war or a new authorization. That gap is now fueling calls for lawmakers to return to Washington and formally weigh in.
USA TODAY’s Kim Hjelmgaard, Francesca Chambers, Bart Jansen, Will Carless and Sarah D. Wire contributed to the reporting of this story