Khaberni - The deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the war with Iran expires tomorrow, Friday, and if he does not do so, he will have to resort to Congress to extend it, but this date will likely pass without any change in the course of the war, which is mired in deadlock.
However, analysts and congressional aides expect either that Trump will notify Congress of his intention to extend the deadline by 30 days or ignore it altogether, and his administration will then declare that the current ceasefire with Iran is the end of the war.
War powers have become, like most policies in the fiercely divided Congress, a distinctly partisan issue.
The Democrats, who form the opposition, are demanding that Congress reclaim its constitutional right to declare war, while the Republicans accuse the Democrats of trying to use the War Powers Act to weaken Trump.
The Democrats have repeatedly tried to pass resolutions since the beginning of the war aimed at forcing Trump to withdraw U.S. forces or obtain a mandate from Congress, but the Republicans loyal to Trump, who have a slim majority in both the Senate and the House, have almost unanimously voted against these resolutions.
Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, the U.S. president cannot continue military action for more than 60 days without turning to Congress to obtain permission or request a 30-day extension due to an "unavoidable military necessity concerning the safety of the U.S. Armed Forces."
The American-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.
Trump formally notified Congress of the conflict 48 hours later, as the law stipulates, starting the countdown for the 60-day period that ends on May 1.
