Senate Democrats are moving ahead with efforts to rein in President Donald Trump’s authority to launch military action against Iran, seeking to build momentum behind a war powers resolution that could come to a vote this week, despite an increasingly fragile ceasefire.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) is leading an effort to restrict Trump’s ability to launch military action against Iran without congressional approval. Kaine, Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Andy Kim (D-NJ) unveiled new language to clarify that the restriction would apply only to offensive military operations.

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The amendment states U.S. support for Israel’s defensive actions against Iran or its proxy forces would remain unaffected. The revised measure spells out that the president would retain the authority to protect U.S. forces and installations abroad without prior congressional approval and could continue intelligence cooperation with partners such as Israel in response to possible threats from Iran.

Following a tense start marked by mutual accusations of ceasefire breaches, a fragile truce between Israel and Iran now seems to be holding, despite sharp criticism from Trump.

The resolution faces steep odds, with Republican control of both the House and Senate making it unlikely that any effort to limit Trump’s war powers will advance. Still, by introducing the measure, Kaine and his allies have reignited a long-stalled conversation about Congress’s constitutional authority over decisions of war and peace.

In the House, Reps. Jim Himes (D-CT), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and Adam Smith (D-WA) introduced a separate war powers resolution late Monday, aiming to reassert congressional control over the deployment of U.S. forces in the Middle East.

The measure includes language reaffirming the president’s authority to act in self-defense, stressing that it is not intended to restrict responses to attacks on U.S. interests or allies, including Israel.

A separate bipartisan push is also unfolding in the House, spearheaded by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). Both lawmakers said they plan to pursue the resolution if the conflict continues.

Massie, who has drawn criticism from conservatives and will likely face a primary challenge backed by Trump, said Tuesday that “it will depend on if the war keeps going on. It’s a wait-and-see approach.”

Under the Constitution, the power to declare war rests with Congress. The War Powers Act of 1973 reinforces that authority by requiring the president to inform lawmakers within 48 hours of initiating military operations in the absence of a war declaration. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Tuesday dismissed the law, saying he believes it violates the Constitution.

“Many respected constitutional experts argue that the War Powers Act is itself unconstitutional,” Johnson told reporters. “I’m persuaded by that argument. They think it’s a violation of the Article II powers of the commander in chief. I think that’s right.”

Kaine quickly challenged Johnson’s claim, retorting, “Did he specify which constitution he’s referring to? The Albanian constitution?”

Democrats sharply criticized the Trump administration for abruptly canceling a classified briefing on Tuesday that was planned to update lawmakers on the strike. The Senate briefing was rescheduled for Thursday, and the House one was moved to Friday to accommodate Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who are traveling in Europe for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit.

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A White House official told the Washington Examiner that the briefings needed to be moved due to new developments.

“Due to evolved circumstances as a result of recent positive developments in the Middle East, the previously scheduled briefings for senators is being postponed to this Thursday,” the official said Tuesday.

Schiff called the delay unacceptable.

“I don’t buy the explanation at all,” Schiff told reporters on Tuesday. “Many of us were demanding a briefing before the strikes occurred. And the fact that this is being put off again just raises questions.”

“Why have they not been more forthcoming with whatever our intelligence shows?” Schiff said. “What is the battle damage assessment? What do we know about the uranium? A lot of questions the administration needs to answer, and the fact that they are once again putting off briefing Congress is completely unacceptable.”

Some Republican senators also seemed disappointed that the planned briefings were not going on as scheduled on Tuesday.

“I was looking forward to doing it today, but I guess they do have a good reason to postpone,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said.

Some Democrats have argued that Trump acted unlawfully by launching the strikes without first securing congressional approval. In response, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) introduced new articles of impeachment and forced a floor vote on the measure Tuesday afternoon. However, the House ultimately voted in a bipartisan move to table the resolution.

This comes after a classified preliminary U.S. intelligence report suggested that the administration’s initial assessment of damage to Iran’s nuclear program from U.S. strikes was overblown.

“Is it in fact the case that Iran’s nuclear program has been completely and totally obliterated? There apparently are reasons to believe that that was a blatant misrepresentation,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters on Tuesday.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, downplayed the classified U.S. intelligence assessment, emphasizing instead that while the attack caused only a temporary setback, continued pressure is needed to push Iran toward negotiations.

“It did cause significant damage, and I think that’s important in terms of a time to negotiate a peaceful resolution,” McCaul said Tuesday in a CNN interview. “I’ve been briefed on this plan in the past. It was never to completely destroy these three facilities, but rather cause significant damage.”

“I think right now the key is to keep applying the pressure, the leverage,” he added.

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As Senate Democrats advance their resolution, several members emphasized that they need to receive their classified briefing before making a final decision on how to vote.

“I think we have to listen first to the debate, and then we have to ask ourselves very practical questions about if this is the end of operations from the United States, as the president suggests,” said Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI). “I think it’s worth debate, and that’s what we should have on the floor immediately.”

Ramsey Touchberry and Naomi Lim contributed to this report.