House Speaker Mike Johnson says "We are not at war" as the War Powers 60-day mark approaches
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
“I don’t think we have an active, kinetic military bombing, firing or anything like that. Right now, we are trying to broker a peace … We are not at war.”
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
The Hill's report on Speaker Mike Johnson's comments on Thursday, April 30, 2026, as the 60-day mark under the War Powers Resolution approached. It also reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate committee that the ceasefire paused the 60-day clock.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Johnson spoke on April 30, 2026, more than four months before Vance's September 3 briefing. The Hill reported that the 60-day mark since Congress was notified of the conflict was approaching.
After the quotation
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate committee the same day that the ceasefire paused the 60-day clock, The Hill reported.
How this statement is classified
Responding to: Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, saying there is no active shooting right now and that major combat operations lasted about six weeks.
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Measured against Vance's description of the fight as not a war, Johnson used the same description more than four months earlier and tied it to the absence of active bombing or firing. That defends the not-a-war description. The closest competing label, “Challenged the characterization”, loses because he states the description as his own view rather than disputing someone else's.
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- JD Vance
Is the U.S. fight with Iran a war, as Vice President Vance says it is not?
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