The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released declassified transcripts of 2019 hearings with former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson in April 2026, a move that arrived alongside broader legislative and executive action on counterintelligence reform. The transcripts were voted out of committee in late March and publicly released two weeks later, framing a period of intensified scrutiny of the IC’s internal oversight mechanisms and the political uses to which those mechanisms have been put.

The ceasefire puts Congress in a difficult but important position. The CRS brief says lawmakers may consider war powers, sanctions, supplemental appropriations, and oversight of any further agreements or military actions. That means Congress is not merely reacting to events; it may help define how long the administration can sustain its current approach and what conditions must be met for the next phase.

War powers will likely be the most visible issue. The report says some members intend to introduce measures under the War Powers Resolution to end the conflict permanently, and that similar measures were rejected in March 2026. Those earlier votes matter because they show Congress has already tested the limits of its willingness to constrain the executive branch. If fighting resumes, war powers could again become the main vehicle for asserting legislative authority.