Congress set to debate war powers as Iran conflict is already unfolding

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Congress is preparing to open a war powers debate over President Donald Trump’s authority to strike Iran even as the bombing is already underway and the country is effectively at war.

Bombs are falling, people are being killed, and threats of retaliation are escalating, as the U.S. pours taxpayer dollars into a military campaign expected to last weeks with no clear objective or endpoint. 

US-Iran tensions spark DC demonstrations

Hundreds across the D.C. region took to the streets - some supporting President Trump, others protesting his actions against Iran.

Unlike the lengthy congressional buildup to the 2003 Iraq War after the Sept. 11 attacks, or the more limited U.S. strikes on Venezuela in recent years, the joint U.S.–Israel assault on Iran, known as Operation Epic Fury, is already in full swing with no sign of slowing.

At least three U.S. service members have been killed, and Trump warned Sunday that "there will likely be more."

The moment is defining for Congress, which alone has the constitutional power to declare war, and for a Republican president, who has repeatedly expanded his authority in a second term marked by an expansive view of executive power.

President Donald J. Trump oversees Operation Epic Fury at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, FL, Feb. 28, 2026. (White House photo by Daniel Torok)

"The Constitution is intended to prevent the accumulation of power in any one branch of government - and in any one person in government," said David Janovsky, acting director of The Constitution Project at the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog organization.

"Congress is the people's representatives in a way that the president isn't, even though we tend to focus on the president," he said. "We need the people's representatives to weigh in on whether we, the people, are going to war right now."