The War Powers Resolution's Final Act
On February 28, 2026 at 1:15 a.m. EST, the United States military commenced Operation Epic Fury, a strategic attack against Iranian targets to weaken Iran’s security infrastructure.[i] This attack was in partnership with Israel, who gave their synchronized operation the name Roaring Lion.[ii] In a Pentagon press briefing on March 2, 2026, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stated, “[t]urns out the regime who chanted ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ was gifted death from America and death from Israel.”[iii]
The War Powers Resolution prohibits the President from sending armed forces into hostilities except in instances where Congress has given congressional approval or in times of national emergency provoked by an attack on the United States.[iv] Once armed forces are sent into hostilities, the President has 48 hours to submit a report to Congress detailing the circumstances that led to military intervention, the constitutional and legislative basis for sending in armed forces, and the estimated scale of hostilities.[v]
Operation Epic Fury is in both substantive and procedural violation of the War Powers Resolution. Congress has not declared war on Iran or passed a statute authorizing hostilities, and there has been no specific national security event that acted as a catalyst to justify an armed attack without congressional approval.[vi] President Donald Trump, announcing Operation Epic Fury to the American people, recounted 47 years of conflict between the United States and Iran, beginning with the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, as justification for this military intervention.[vii] No single national security incident was cited as basis for the attack on Iran, rather, Trump continually recounted that this attack was to prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon.[viii] Under the War Powers Resolution this is not an instance of an attack on the United States that would allow the President to bypass congressional military authorization.[ix] Two days after the initial attack on Iran, President Trump submitted a report to Congress detailing his official legal reasoning for sending armed forced into hostilities as required by the War Powers Resolution.[x] President Trump stated that he authorized these armed hostilities as the Chief Executive and Commander in Chief to advance the national security and foreign policy of the United States.[xi] No specific breach of national security was disclosed.[xii] Rather, President Trump cited that the strikes “[w]ere undertaken to protect United States forces in the region, protect the United States homeland, advance vital United States national interests, including ensuring the free flow of maritime commerce through the Strait of Hormuz, and in collective self-defense of our regional allies, including Israel.”[xiii]
This is not the first time a president has vagrantly circumvented the War Powers Resolution to incite armed hostilities, and it certainly won’t be the last. In 2011, President Barack Obama cited United Nations Security Council authorization as legal justification to invade Libya.[xiv] There was neither authorization from Congress nor an attack on the United States that prompted President Obama’s attack.[xv] Despite widespread congressional backlash, President Obama failed to produce a report to Congress detailing the legality of armed hostilities and further refused to remove troops from Libya when congressional approval was not received within the window provided by the War Powers Resolution.[xvi] In a classified congressional briefing, former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said that “[T]he administration would ignore any and all attempts by Congress to shackle President Obama’s power as commander in chief to make military and wartime decisions.”[xvii]
For too long the Supreme Court has allowed the executive branch to tread over the legislature to steal military power rightly granted to Congress under Article One of the Constitution.[xviii] More and more, the president is the one who informally “declares” war by inciting armed hostilities without congressional approval.[xix] The Supreme Court has historically refused to issue a ruling on the legality of the War Powers Resolutions and instances of interbranch military power disputes.[xx] This cannot go on. It is imperative that the Supreme Court settles this dispute for once and for all by preserving the constitutional powers allocated to Congress and reining in the increasing power of the executive. If we continue to only hear silence from the judiciary, it is evident that we are witnessing the War Powers Resolution’s final act.
Megan Van Stensel is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLIX.
[i] See Press Release, U.S. Cent. Command, U.S. Forces Launch Operation Epic Fury (Feb. 28, 2026), https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/4418396/us-forces-launch-operation-epic-fury/.
[ii] See Tarun Mishra, ‘Operation Lion’s Roar vs Epic Fury’: Why US-Israel are running two different missions to strike Iran?, Wion (Feb. 28, 2026), https://www.wionews.com/photos/operation-roaring-lion-vs-epic-furry-why-us-israel-are-running-two-different-mission-to-strike-iran-1772291895036/1772291895037.
[iii] Department of War, LIVE: Secretary of War and CJCS, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, Hold a Press Briefing at the Pentagon., YouTube (Mar. 2, 2026), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5LgpOGxTmE&t=1s.
[iv] See 50 U.S.C. §1541(1973).
[v] See Id. at §1543.
[vi] See Nardine Saad & Brandon Drenon, Did Trump declare war and did Congress approve Iran attacks? What to know, BBC (Mar. 2, 2026), https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c626ljyvmg3o.
[vii] See The White House, President Donald J. Trump on the United States Military Major Combat Operations in Iran, YouTube (Feb. 28, 2026), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-E7DIctrzo&t=2s.
[viii] See Id.
[ix] See 50 U.S.C. §1541(1973).
[x] See War Powers Resolution Reporting Project, 48-Hour Report Database, Reiss Center on Law and Security (Mar. 2, 2026), https://warpowers.lawandsecurity.org/.
[xi] See Report 20260302A, The White House (March 2, 2026), https://assets.ctfassets.net/6hn51hpulw83/5edNAbR7EeCaJ0clRleAyA/5950549daa05588a0bd2790c7b37f9b3/20260302_Trump.pdf.
[xii] See Id.
[xiii] Id.
[xiv] See David Boaz, President Obama’s Illegal War, CATO Institute (May 31, 2011), https://www.cato.org/commentary/president-obamas-illegal-war.
[xv] See Id.
[xvi] See Lillis et al., White House briefing changes few minds on Libya Involvement, The Hill (Mar. 30, 2011), https://thehill.com/homenews/house/87124-white-house-briefing-changes-few-minds-on-libya-involvement/.
[xvii] Charlie Savage, Clock Ticking on War Powers Resolution, The New York Times (Apr. 1, 2011), https://archive.nytimes.com/thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/clock-ticking-on-war-powers-resolution/.
[xviii] See U.S. Const. art. I, §8.
[xix] See War Powers Resolution of 1973, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum (July 27, 2021), https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/news/war-powers-resolution-1973.
[xx] See ArtI.S8.C11.2.5.1 Overview of Supreme Court Jurisprudence and War Powers, Constitution Annotated: Analysis and Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution (Congress.gov), https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S8-C11-2-5-1/ALDE_00013916/#:~:text=Accordingly%2C%20the%20following%20essays%20examine,power%20to%20initiate%20military%20action.
This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.