Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Cato podcast. I'm Molly Nixon, a senior fellow in executive power here at the Cato Institute.

And I'm Catherine Thompson, a senior fellow on the defense and foreign policy team here at Cato.

Today we are going to be talking about the Iran War, the War Powers Resolution, and the upcoming 60-day deadline under that law for President Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities in Iran.

We'll also discuss Congress's response to the war, options for legislative reform, and the reaction to several particularly extreme social media posts from the president.

Listeners probably know that the U.S. and Israel began joint strikes in Iran at the end of February.

Despite President Trump's recent statements about the prospects for a deal with Iran,

no clear timeline for such an off-room has been set.

In the midst of talks on a deal, Iran continues to block shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz,

sending oil prices over $100 a barrel for the first time in four years.

The United States has responded with a counter-blockade, an effort that comes with significant

military hardware requirements and increased risk of escalation.

Despite the fact that Trump administration has not offered clear objectives or a desired political end state for this costly campaign, Congress has largely sat on the sidelines, watching the war and its consequences play out.

The Senate has voted five times, and the House has held one vote on resolutions to terminate the president's use of U.S. armed forces in this, but none of these

resolutions received enough votes to pass. This 60-day deadline under the War Powers resolution could,

however, shift both the political and institutional considerations for some members who have so far

been reluctant to block the president. So it's important for us to understand what we might be

watching play out.

And that's why, Catherine, I'm hoping you can give us a crash course in the War Powers Resolution. And let's start with what does it say and why was it passed? Yeah, no, it's, I mean, it's such a timely topic and it's a good question. And as you point out, like the way the war powers resolution works and there's a lot of clocks, there's a lot of

deadlines included in it, but the it's a good question. And as you point out, like, the way the War Powers Resolution works,

and there's a lot of clocks, there's a lot of deadlines included in it. But the sort of long and

short of it, the things that listeners probably most need to know is the Warpower's resolution

came about in the wake of the Vietnam War. We sort of got the Warpower'solution as a reaction to presidents who, you know,

...