Congress is still debating whether the U.S. attacks on Iran constitute a ‘war’ — we’re in worse shape than we thought

Last week, the United States launched a massive military operation against Iran that is still ongoing. As a result, the country’s supreme leader is gone, their military infrastructure is suffering devastating hits, more than a thousand civilians — including more than 150 children — are dead, and the entire Middle East is on fire as a result of thousands of Iranian missiles and suicide drones raining down on bases and installations in more than seven countries.

Even the U.S. military has suffered casualties, and Israelis are still facing the brunt of the attack in Tel Aviv and Haifa. And yet, as of today, the United States Congress is locked in a heated debate over whether any of that technically counts as a “war.”

No, seriously. Senators and representatives are still not sure about what constitutes an act of war, and whether they should limit Donald Trump’s presidential powers in this regard. If you needed a single definitive proof about why we live in the Matrix, the developments this week might just do the trick.

The constitutional machinery here isn’t subtle. Article I gives Congress — and Congress alone — the power to declare war. When Trump ordered Operation Epic Fury without a vote, without authorization, and apparently without a coherent exit strategy, Democrats and a small handful of Republicans pushed for war powers resolutions in both chambers that would have forced the administration to either get congressional approval or stand down.

Unfortunately, our Republican-throttled Congress failed to pass the vote. The Senate voted first and the House followed a day later, but both came out the same. The failed votes, according to NBC News, now function as implicit congressional authorization for Trump to keep the war going. That’s actually even more perverse because having done nothing, the lawmakers gave Trump a green light to continue plunging the country and the world into another senseless war.

What’s more, the Congress is still not sure if this is an act of war. House Speaker Mike Johnson (Per ABC News) went before reporters and declared the U.S. is “not at war” and just engaged in a “specific operation.”

Oh, sure. Next they’re going to nuke Russia and call it a controlled demolition.

The semantics aren’t just absurd. They’re doing real legal work. As CNN‘s analysis explained, the Trump administration’s rationale hinges on a long-standing executive branch argument that a military operation doesn’t become a “war” requiring congressional authorization as long as its “nature, scope, and duration” stay beneath a certain threshold.

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri is drawing the line at ground troops, per Fox News, adding: “But [Trump] just said, ‘We’re not going to do ground troops,’ so, I just say to my Democrat friends — I think they’re just looking for something to vote against the president on.”

As long as there are no boots on the ground, the president has the authority to bomb the hell out of a sovereign nation and kill thousands of people. Got it. Thanks for the clarification.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, meanwhile, deployed the memorable logic that you “can’t be halfway pregnant” — meaning, since the U.S. is already in it, Congress should stay out of it.

Right, I think we’re officially in clown territory, and I’m not quite sure there’s a way out of the tent.