WASHINGTON D.C. — As the US-Iran conflict passed its 60-day mark this week — the statutory deadline under the 1973 War Powers Resolution at which a president must seek congressional authorisation or end hostilities — the Trump administration presented Congress with what legal experts are calling "the most ambitious use of contradiction as a legal strategy in the history of American governance."

The strategy has three parts. Firstly, the War Powers Act is unconstitutional and therefore does not apply. Secondly, the war is already over due to a ceasefire, so the 60-day clock has stopped. Thirdly, the President is currently reviewing new military options to relaunch the war.

Vice President JD Vance, asked to clarify the administration's position, stated that the War Powers Resolution is "fundamentally a fake and unconstitutional law." He did not explain why the administration had simultaneously written a letter to Congress invoking the ceasefire clause of the same fake and unconstitutional law.

"We don't accept the law," a senior White House aide confirmed. "But we're also complying with it. But also it doesn't exist. I want to be very clear on all three of those points."

A Brief History of the Clock

US and Israeli forces began military operations against Iran on February 28, triggering the 60-day War Powers deadline. On April 7, Trump ordered a ceasefire, which the administration argues "paused" the clock. The ceasefire has since been extended, with no active exchange of fire — though both the US and Iran are maintaining a naval blockade enforced by military vessels, a situation Democrats describe as "hostilities" and the White House describes as "a very peaceful arrangement with boats."

Trump formally notified Congress on May 1 that "hostilities have terminated," citing the ceasefire. He sent this notification on the same day that NBC News reported he had directed the Pentagon to prepare options for relaunching the war, after rejecting Iran's latest peace proposal as "not serious" and "frankly embarrassing."

"The war is over. We won. Tremendously. Nobody has ever won a war like this. Also I am reviewing options. Also this law doesn't exist. I want to be very clear." — The President, in a statement that legal scholars will be studying for years

The Treasonous Question

Adding a fourth layer to the argument, CNN reported this week that Trump has described it as "treasonous" for anyone to say the United States is not winning the conflict — a position that sits awkwardly alongside the administration's parallel claim that the conflict is already over and has been won.

When a reporter at Thursday's briefing pointed out that "winning" and "over" and "potentially relaunching" were difficult to reconcile, press secretary Dana Blevins said the reporter was "asking the question in a very unfair way" and called on someone else.

Congressional Reaction

Congressional Democrats called for an immediate vote on a War Powers resolution to end the conflict. Congressional Republicans largely described the situation as "fine" and "not something they were prepared to comment on right now."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Gallagher said he was "monitoring the situation closely," which sources confirm means he has received four briefings and attended none of them.

Current official White House positions on the Iran conflict, held simultaneously:

1. The War Powers Act is unconstitutional and does not apply.
2. The war ended on April 7 when the ceasefire began, so the 60-day clock stopped.
3. Hostilities have "terminated" per the letter to Congress.
4. Military options to relaunch hostilities are under active review.
5. It is treasonous to suggest the US is not winning.
6. The ceasefire was a great victory and the President's greatest achievement.
7. The ceasefire may end imminently if Iran doesn't "get smart."

Constitutional law professor Margaret Chen of Georgetown University reviewed the administration's filings and issued a statement describing them as "a genuinely novel contribution to American legal theory" that raised questions "which, if litigated, could consume the federal court system for a generation."

She added: "I've been teaching constitutional law for 24 years. I don't have a framework for this."

At press time, the President had posted on Truth Social that the War Powers Act was "a very unfair law, made by very weak people, probably RINO's, and I have never had to follow it and I never will, although I already have, and the war is won, and also watch this space." The post received 290,000 likes. Constitutional scholars received zero calls asking for comment.