Release: Democrats Introduce NEW WAR Powers Resolution

<p><strong>WASHINGTON,&nbsp;D.C. —</strong> Today, a group of Democrats, including U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Congressman Greg Landsman (OH-1), Congressman Jim Costa (CA-21), Congressman Jared Golden (ME-2),&nbsp;and&nbsp;Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28),&nbsp;and Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-20)&nbsp;announced the introduction of a new War Powers Resolution to uphold Congress’s constitutional authority, while ensuring the United States can continue to defend our service members, embassies, and allies from Iranian aggression.&nbsp;Under the banner “Death to America,” the Iranian regime&nbsp;remains&nbsp;the leading state sponsor of terror.&nbsp;Over the decades, Iran’s&nbsp;ballistic missile, nuclear, and terror proxy programs have led to the death of thousands of Americans, service&nbsp;members, and allies.&nbsp;Their government&nbsp;recently massacred&nbsp;reportedly&nbsp;tens&nbsp;of thousands&nbsp;of their own people for seeking freedom and democracy.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>The&nbsp;new&nbsp;War&nbsp;Powers&nbsp;Resolution:</strong>&nbsp;</p>

<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Directs the President to end U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic of Iran within&nbsp;thirty&nbsp;days unless Congress provides authorization for the use of military&nbsp;force or a&nbsp;formal&nbsp;declaration of war.&nbsp;The thirty-day clock&nbsp;commenced&nbsp;the day operations began on&nbsp;February 28, 2026.&nbsp;The President&nbsp;is expected to use this time to present his case for&nbsp;U.S. military action&nbsp;to&nbsp;Congress and the American people, without risking the safety and security of service&nbsp;members. &nbsp;&nbsp;</li>

<li>Precludes&nbsp;the President from deploying ground troops without explicit congressional authority, except for cases of search and rescue missions&nbsp;and intelligence activities. &nbsp;&nbsp;</li>

<li>Explicitly&nbsp;preserves the United States’ ability to defend itself, our armed forces, embassies, and allied nations from imminent attack,&nbsp;and protect ongoing intelligence collection and intelligence sharing.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>

<li>Mandates that the&nbsp;President&nbsp;and administration&nbsp;regularly brief&nbsp;Members&nbsp;of Congress and the relevant committees on&nbsp;the goals and&nbsp;objectives&nbsp;of major military&nbsp;action&nbsp;as military operations continue.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p><em>Find text of the resolution<a href="https://d12t4t5x3vyizu.cloudfront.net/gottheimer.house.gov/uploads/2026/03/GOTTHE_189_2_xml.pdf">&nbsp;here</a>.</em>&nbsp;</p>

<p>There is a concern that the&nbsp;Khanna–Massie War Powers Resolution&nbsp;currently&nbsp;requires&nbsp;the immediate&nbsp;withdrawal of U.S. forces,&nbsp;even&nbsp;while Iran is actively targeting American&nbsp;troops, assets,&nbsp;embassies,&nbsp;and&nbsp;our&nbsp;allies&nbsp;across the region.&nbsp;It is vital that we allow for a safe transition, that protects our&nbsp;service&nbsp;members, embassies,&nbsp;and allies, not a&nbsp;potentially precarious withdrawal.&nbsp;In&nbsp;recent&nbsp;days, Iran has launched ongoing offensive attacks against American&nbsp;troops, diplomats,&nbsp;and&nbsp;partners&nbsp;in&nbsp;the UAE, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,&nbsp;Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait,&nbsp;Cyprus,&nbsp;and&nbsp;Oman.&nbsp;Iran has&nbsp;also&nbsp;launched drone and ballistic missile attacks against&nbsp;civilian targets,&nbsp;including&nbsp;hospitals,&nbsp;hotels, and airports.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>This new legislation provides a clear thirty-day window consistent with the War Powers Act of 1973, maintains clear authority on self-defense, and avoids signaling retreat to our adversaries. This is not about politics; it is about commonsense action to defend our troops and allies while standing by Congress Article I constitutional responsibilities. </p>

<p>An open-ended commitment by the Administration and the&nbsp;recent implication&nbsp;from the&nbsp;Secretary of Defense&nbsp;that ground troops may be engaged are both unacceptable.&nbsp;It is equally unwise to act in a precipitous way and endanger America’s security and put our&nbsp;service&nbsp;members&nbsp;in&nbsp;additional&nbsp;harm’s way.&nbsp;A thirty-day period for Congress to be fully briefed, for intelligence committees to assess the status of the conflict, and for the American people to hear directly from the Administration on the goals and end game of this action will allow Congress to act in a timely and appropriate way to do what we all want: combat global terror that threatens us all, ensure the safety of our troops and allies, and live up to our constitutional duties.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="has-text-align-center">###&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://gottheimer.house.gov/posts/release-democrats-introduce-new-war-powers-resolution">RELEASE: DEMOCRATS INTRODUCE NEW WAR POWERS RESOLUTION </a> appeared first on <a href="https://gottheimer.house.gov">Josh Gottheimer</a>.</p>