Trump’s War in Iran Nears Critical Deadline

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When President Trump sent troops into Iran, he did so without a green light from Congress. Now he faces a deadline on May 1 to either end the war in Iran or secure official approval from Congress. That timeline is laid out under the War Powers Resolution, a law that allows presidents to start wars without congressional approval. Democrats in Congress have tried and failed to pass multiple resolutions to halt the war. Meanwhile, the war is losing support from Republican lawmakers, who have not proposed a vote to approve it. We talk about the war in Iran, lawmakers’ efforts to stop it so far, and whether the Trump administration is feeling any pressure from the 60-day deadline. Guests: Harold Hongju Koh, professor of international law, Yale Law School; legal advisor to the U.S. Department of State from 2009-2013 Mark DeSaulnier, U.S. Congressman representing California's 10th district (the East Bay) Robert Jimison, congressional reporter covering foreign policy, defense and national security issues, The New York Times Elisa Ewers, senior fellow, Council on Foreign Relations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:58.7	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. The war in Iran is nearly two months old, and by a plain reading of the law of the land, the war powers resolution specifically, the president
1:03.9	should have to secure official approval from Congress for this conflict by tomorrow, May 1st.
1:09.2	But will that happen? You may have noticed that presidents have found
1:12.7	ways to skirt this law since it was pastor in the Nixon administration. Does it still matter?
1:17.4	And what wrangling is happening in Congress? Joining us to discuss this morning, we've got an all-star
1:23.1	cast. We're beginning with Harold Honju Co. who is Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School and author of the National Security Constitution in the 21st century.
1:34.3	Welcome, Harold.
1:35.3	Thank you.
1:36.3	So tell us about the War Powers Resolution.
	...

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