Mackenzie opposes vote to limit Trump's war powers with Iran, says it leaves America less safe

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Hours after the U.S. House voted to restrict President Donald Trump's authority to wage war against Iran, U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie criticized his colleagues for hamstringing American negotiators trying to broker a peace deal to the three-month-old conflict.

Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, and most of his Republican colleagues voted Wednesday night against limiting the administration's war powers.

However, four Republicans joined the Democratic minority to pass the war powers resolution, 215-208. U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania, crossed party lines to provide one of the critical votes.

While fighting has slowed since Pakistan helped mediate a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran in early April, Iran has blocked most movement through the Strait of Hormuz.

The narrow waterway is critical to global supplies of natural gas and oil, leading to spiking energy prices across the world.

From Feb. 23 — shortly before Trump launched attacks against Iran — to June 1, gas prices in the United States are up 44%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Mackenzie supportive, despite polls

Recent polling shows 60% of Americans disapprove of the war in Iran, including 90% of respondents who identified as Democrats and 70% of people who identified as political independents.

Some 68% of respondents, including 52% of MAGA supporters, said the war should end as soon as possible.

The same poll found Trump's approval rating is underwater with 61% disapproving of how he's handled his presidential duties.

Despite that unpopularity, Mackenzie has been a consistent supporter of Trump throughout.

The Trump administration has been engaged in negotiations to end the war for weeks, Mackenzie said. The war powers resolution only weakens America's position, he said.

"In this instance, Congress can be most helpful in securing a successful outcome — one that not only permanently ends the current conflict, but also reduces Iran's long-term threats to American interests — by preserving the Administration's leverage during active and ongoing peace negotiations," Mackenzie said in a prepared statement to Lehigh Valley Public Media Thursday afternoon.

"Undercutting those efforts to make a political statement would actually leave America less safe."

Campaign trail fodder

Mackenzie's stance on foreign wars has echoed Trump's since he went on the campaign trail in 2024.

At the time, Trump was campaigning as a peace candidate, and Mackenzie criticized American involvement in forever wars as a waste of American lives and tax dollars.

However, both Trump and Mackenzie have a distinction for the attack on Iran.

In late April, Mackenzie credited the Trump administration for the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking officials in a missile attack.

Trump was wise to take out Iran's senior leadership, considering the country's persistent effort to undermine American interests and its allies over the past 50 years, Mackenzie said.

Bob Brooks, the Democrat running against Mackenzie in the November election, has taken to social media to highlight Mackenzie's war power votes compared with his stance two years ago.

The conflict and its consequences are likely to continue popping up on the campaign trail.

Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District is among the most hotly contested U.S. House seats in the country, and Brooks has made rising costs a central tenet of his campaign.

War powers

It's unclear whether Wednesday's vote will serve as a serious restraint on the Trump administration or a symbolic rebuke of an unpopular war.

The U.S. Senate still must pass its own resolution; four Republicans crossed party lines in May to allow a vote on a war powers resolution, but the actual vote has not yet taken place.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, was the only Democrat who voted to block the resolution at the time.

The U.S. government has confirmed 13 American soldiers have died in combat-related duties since the outbreak of the war and hundreds more have been injured.

The government said another service member died of an unrelated medical condition.

In addition to much of Iran's senior leadership, more than 3,400 Iranians have died in attacks across the country, according to Al-Jazeera.

The United States and Iran have exchanged new salvos in recent days, despite the ceasefire.

The war has seen a second front open between Israel and Lebanon; the ceasefire between the United States and Iran has not gone into effect there.

More than 3,300 people have died in Lebanon, with 10,000 more injured. Meanwhile, Israel has reported at least 26 people have died and nearly 7,800 injured, according to Al-Jazeera.