UPDATE: April 7, 2026 7:45 P.M. – The United States and Iran struck a last-minute cease-fire agreement Tuesday evening, just hours after President Donald Trump warned he would target Iran’s “entire civilization” if it failed to ensure safe passage for commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the New York Times.
Trump announced the deal in a social media post Tuesday night, following diplomatic intervention by Pakistan, which had urged him to back away from an 8 p.m. EST deadline imposed on Iran. Acting as a mediator, Pakistan proposed a two-week cease-fire, during which Iran would permit the uninterrupted transit of oil, gas, and other commercial vessels through the critical shipping corridor.
A U.S. official said military strikes on Iran have stopped. Iran said it will allow safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks, if coordinated with Iran’s military.
Original story, April 7, 2026, 5:53 p.m.
President Donald Trump on Monday issued a sharp ultimatum to Iran, setting an 8 p.m. deadline for April 7 tied to escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and regional military activity.
The world has since been speculating if this is an idle threat or the beginning of Armageddon.
In public statements, Trump has warned of significant consequences—including potential military action—if Iran does not agree to new terms aimed at curbing its nuclear capabilities and limiting its influence in the Middle East, saying in a Truth Socal post, “a whole civilization will die tonight.”
The rhetoric marks a rapid intensification in tone, raising concerns among U.S. lawmakers, including New Hampshire’s congressional delegation, who argue that any move toward armed conflict would require congressional authorization and are urging an immediate return to Washington to assert oversight.
Meanwhile, social media has been jammed up with discussion over the 25th Amendment.
Many lawmakers and political pundits are calling for an immediate return by Congress to Washington, D.C., to either invoke the 25th Amendment (aka the Disability Clause, which in section 4, provides a mechanism to remove a president from power if they are deemed unable to discharge the duties of the office) or take some other action to intervene in escalation of the Iran war.
The 25th Amendment it complicated. It can only be invoked by a majority of the cabinet and the vice president – “or a body as decided by Congress” to formally declare to Congress that the president is unfit to serve, at which point the vice president immediately assumes the role of acting president. If the president contests that determination, Congress must convene and decide the issue, requiring a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to keep the vice president in charge; otherwise, the president resumes authority.
It takes time and historically, has never been invoked against a U.S. President. The part about a “body as decided by Congress” has never been determined. It could be, for instance, a bi-partisan commission of former U.S. Presidents, constitutional and/or medical experts, senior statesmen – but because such a commission doesn’t exist, it is theoretical.
Regardless of what happens Tuesday at 8 p.m., NH’s Congressional delegation says they are focused on deescalation of the Iran War.
Below are the comments made on Tuesday by each of our New Hampshire delegation:
U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen:
On Tuesday Shaheen released the following statement as a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, alongside members of the Senate Appropriations Committee Chris Coons (D-DE), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense, Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Democratic Leader, Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations:
“We speak today with one voice and one purpose: to condemn President Trump’s threat to extinguish an entire civilization.
“This is not strength. Intentionally destroying the power, water or basic infrastructure upon which tens of millions of civilians depend to punish the very civilians who suffer at the hands of the Iranian regime would constitute a war crime, a betrayal of the values this nation was founded on and a moral failure. It’s unconscionable to threaten the lives of so many people – grandparents, children, families – simply because they were born in Iran. President Trump’s reckless threat makes Americans less safe, further destabilizes our nation and economy and puts at greater risk U.S. service members. It only serves to push us further away from the only viable solution to this war: a diplomatic one. The president must not follow through on this threat.”
U.S Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander, a former intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, released the following statement alongside House Democratic Veterans.
“Words matter in times of peace, but especially in times of war. We served our country and are no strangers to war. What Trump threatened this morning — that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ — cannot be ignored, rationalized, or dismissed. It is not ‘strategic posturing’ to threaten to annihilate an entire people. It threatens a war crime so grave that no person should condone it.
“There is no strategic justification for threatening to destroy an entire civilization, and anyone who says otherwise is unfit for office. Any elected official cheering on this rhetoric, rationalizing it as tough talk, and failing to acknowledge the gravity of what the president is threatening is simply unfit.
“We need to immediately return to DC and stop this illegal war. We took oaths to the Constitution and the American people, not a political party nor a leader. The time to do something is now, and we must act.”
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan released the following statement via a social media post:
“The President is now threatening to wipe out a country of more than 90 million people, days after he said the war was about to end. It’s completely unhinged, illegal, and more proof that Congress must immediately stop this war and end this madness. Leader Thune and Speaker Johnson need to call Congress back and support efforts to rein him in.”
U.S. Congressman Chris Pappas released the following statement via social media in response to Trump’s Truth Social post:
“These are the deranged ramblings of a lunatic. Congress needs to get back to Washington immediately and put a check on Trump’s recklessness and incompetence.”