Mike Johnson denies the US is at war with Iran ahead of key congressional deadline

House Speaker Mike Johnson said congressional approval is not necessary for the conflict between the United States and Iran, disputing claims that the military operation is a war.

Over two months into the conflict, Johnson has maintained that the operation is “not a war,” arguing that the 60-day deadline enforced by the War Powers Resolution would not apply to this scenario.

‘There’s nothing Congress can do.’

Without congressional approval within the 60 days, the resolution would mandate the president to withdraw military forces from the war.

“I don’t think we have an active, kinetic military bombing, firing, anything like that. Right now, we are trying to broker a peace,” Johnson said Thursday. “I would be very reluctant to get in front of the administration in the midst of these very sensitive negotiations, so we’ll have to see how that plays out.”

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Graeme Sloan/Getty Images

“We’re policing the Strait of Hormuz and trying to get a peace,” Johnson added. “The president and the administration are moving as aggressively as possible. There’s nothing Congress can do to move that along any further, so we’ll see how it plays out.”

Although Johnson and other Republican allies have refrained from calling the conflict a war, President Donald Trump has frequently referred to the operation as a war.

“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” Trump said on February 28, the day the United States first began striking Iran. “That often happens in war.”

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