BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Two months after President Donald Trump launched attacks against Iran, U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie said he is willing to give the president more time to wind down the war and negotiate peace.
Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, said this week that he expects Trump to seek an extension of the War Powers Act.
The federal law lets presidents engage in military operations for 60 days without Congressional authorization, but allows a 30-day extension. That deadline is Friday.
"As long as that is continuing, that is something that we do not want — to take away the president’s leverage. Having Congress intervene at this point in time could potentially undercut his negotiating ability."U. S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley
The United States and Iran are engaged in negotiations to end the conflict, and tentative ceasefires have been in place for more than three weeks.
"As long as that is continuing, that is something that we do not want — to take away the president’s leverage," Mackenzie said. "Having Congress intervene at this point in time could potentially undercut his negotiating ability."
House Republicans have narrowly fended of Democratic efforts to revoke authorization for the war.
An April 16 resolution ordering Trump to end the war failed in the House by a single vote, with Mackenzie joining nearly every Republican in opposition.
Similar votes have played out in the Senate, though Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, has crossed the aisle and opposed efforts to stop the war.
Deadline shifts the question
But Friday's deadline shifts the question somewhat.
While Democrats were fighting to end the war before, Trump now must now seek Congressional approval to continue the war, or must withdraw American forces.
Mackenzie ran for office in 2024 saying that America was needed to stop investing lives and funding in so many armed conflicts across the world.
While he pledged support for Taiwan and Israel, he called on the United States to withdraw aid from Ukraine and pressure NATO allies to step up their contributions.
"As an 'America first' conservative, I'm very concerned that we've been engaging ourselves in too many forever wars over the past 20 years, spending trillions of dollars and getting entangled into these conflicts needlessly," Mackenzie said two years ago.
"You are going to have to confront Iran at some point. They were on this path to nuclear military capabilities. It would have eventually been inevitable."U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley
On Monday, Mackenzie said he still holds to those values but credited Trump with seizing a vital opportunity.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking officials were gathered in a single location, and eliminating them weakened an American adversary that has attacked regional allies and had worked to develop nuclear weapons, he said.
"You are going to have to confront Iran at some point," Mackenzie said. "They were on this path to nuclear military capabilities. It would have eventually been inevitable."
Unpopular war
The conflict is unlikely to help Mackenzie and other House Republicans as they head into the midterm elections.
A public poll released Friday by the Washington Post and ABC News showed that 61% percent of Americans consider the war a mistake and just 24% of Americans support the conflict.
Mackenzie, a freshman lawmaker, represents Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District — among the most contested battleground seats in the country.
Its past three elections have been decided by 3 percentage points or less, and both parties have invested enormous resources to carry the seat in recent elections.
The four candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in the May 19 primary — firefighter union boss Bob Brooks, former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure and energy engineer Carol Obando-Derstine — have voiced opposition to the conflict.
