Does ongoing naval enforcement during a truce count as active warfare, and who ultimately holds the power to decide?

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Ongoing naval enforcement during a truce can still count as active warfare under a strong body of legal opinion, especially if it includes a blockade, armed patrols, threat-backed interdictions, or exchanges of fire. In the Iran dispute, that is the core argument made by lawmakers such as Thomas Massie and by several war-powers scholars: a ceasefire does not automatically end “hostilities” if U.S. forces remain engaged in coercive military operations. The War Powers Resolution starts its 60-day clock when U.S. forces are introduced into hostilities or imminent hostilities. Experts cited in the background say the law contains no clause allowing that clock to pause during a ceasefire. They argue that continued naval enforcement in and around the Strait of Hormuz, including blockade-like actions, points to an ongoing state of hostilities rather than a clean termination of conflict. Some analysts also note Supreme Court precedent in the Prize Cases and past executive-branch opinions treating blockades as acts of war. The administration’s position is different. It has argued that the ceasefire ended the original hostilities and that later maritime or defensive actions may be separate, limited episodes rather than a continuation of the same war. That theory is contested and has not been definitively resolved. Who decides is ultimately unsettled in practice. Congress has the constitutional power to authorize war, while the president directs the military. If the branches disagree ov…

Massie, Democrats Push Lawsuit Over Trump’s 1973 War Powers Violations in Iran

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Massie, Democrats Push Lawsuit Over Trump’s 1973 War Powers Violations in Iran

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