U.S. Central Command’s announcement Saturday that two American service members had been killed and a third was missing in an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan landed against the backdrop of a war that Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has backed more consistently than any other Democrat in the Senate — a position he reaffirmed even as he mourned the losses.
“This is awful and tragic news,” Fetterman wrote on X at 1:14 p.m. on July 18. “These two servicemembers represent the very best of us and who we lost as heroes.”
He continued: “My family grieves for and mourns with theirs. Our military and its leaders have my unconditional support to bring home the missing servicemember.”
The Lone Democratic Holdout
Fetterman’s statement comes from a senator who has broken repeatedly with his own party over the war since it began February 28. He was the sole Senate Democrat to vote against War Powers Resolutions aimed at halting the conflict, doing so on more than one occasion even as colleagues including Cory Booker, Tim Kaine, Chris Murphy, Adam Schiff and Tammy Duckworth pushed to end U.S. involvement.
“We have to stand with our military to allow them to accomplish the goals of Epic Fury,” Fetterman said on Fox News’s “Hannity” in April, referring to the operation by its military codename. “I’m old enough to remember we used to root for our military.”
He has described himself as prepared to be the “last man standing” within his party in support of Israel and the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, telling Fox News in April that “as Democrats continue to abandon Israel, I’ll be the last man standing if that’s what’s necessary.” He added that “we might have disagreements on this as a party, but we should all be behind our military at this point.”
In March, following a joint U.S.-Israeli operation that killed members of Iran’s leadership structure, Fetterman told CNN he fully supported continued strikes on regime officials, saying at the time that the U.S. and Israel should “just keep killing” until Iranian leadership was eliminated. He has separately said he is “baffled” why more of his fellow Democrats have not supported the campaign, asking in one social media post, “Empty sloganeering vs. commitment to global security — which is it?”
By May, Fetterman described himself as “pretty much locked and loaded” in his support for the war, a position that has held even as public opinion in his home state has moved against the conflict; a March poll found Pennsylvania voters held a net-negative view of the strikes on Iran.
CENTCOM’s Account of Friday’s Attack
CENTCOM said the two service members were killed in action on July 17 as U.S. and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks, with a third service member still missing. Four other troops were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals and have since been discharged, and personnel evaluated for minor injuries have returned to duty. The command is withholding the identities of the fallen until 24 hours after next of kin are notified.
Support Amid Rising Costs
Fetterman’s continued backing of the campaign comes as the war’s toll has grown; Friday’s deaths mark the first American combat fatalities from hostile fire since an April ceasefire, which has since deteriorated alongside renewed fighting over the Strait of Hormuz. Even as the terms of the peace process that followed the ceasefire have drawn bipartisan criticism, Fetterman has remained notably quiet on the details, a contrast to his earlier vocal advocacy for the military campaign itself.
His Saturday statement, focused on grief and continued support for the mission to recover the missing service member, extends a pattern that has held since the war’s opening days: consistent public backing for the operation regardless of its mounting American casualties.