By George Caldwell, The Daily Signal | June 17, 2025
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said Tuesday he thinks Israel’s conduct in Iran is a pathway to peace, and that he isn’t interested in supporting attempts to restrain President Donald Trump’s war powers.
Asked by The Daily Signal if he feared an escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict into a full-blown war, he rejected the premise of the question.
“That’s not escalation,” he said. “Building a nuclear bomb, that’s an escalation. You know, funding and creating proxies, that’s escalation. And now, what’s happening now, it’s peace. It’s about peace and destroying the Iranian nuclear project.”
Fetterman’s favorable view of actions targeting Iran’s nuclear capabilities and high-ranking officials is not shared by everyone in Congress, though.
Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., have introduced a bill to restrict the president from using U.S. forces against Iran without Congress’ consent.
Asked by The Daily Signal what he thought of that bill, Fetterman said, “I have no interest in that. I’m aware of that. I would never sign [onto] something like that.”
The Pennsylvania Democrat has emerged as one of the most vocally pro-Israel members of Congress since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and advocated a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities even before Israel’s recent operations.
Of course, it’s not likely that many Republicans will support a resolution to restrict Trump’s powers with regard to Iran.
“I think we’re getting the cart ahead of the horse here,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters when asked about the bill Tuesday.
“This is something that’s happened the last few days. I think the president is perfectly within his authority in the steps that he has taken. Clearly, if this thing were to extend for some period of time, there could be a more fulsome discussion about what the role of Congress should be and whether or not we need to take action,” Thune said.
George Caldwell is a journalism fellow at The Daily Signal.
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