U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) called on Thursday for the firing of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, saying Lutnick’s false claim that no American service members had died during the war with Iran was “inexcusable” and warning that the sacrifices made by U.S. troops and their families “can never be forgotten.”
Markey’s statement came in a post on X on Thursday afternoon, responding directly to a CNN report detailing Lutnick’s apology for the false claim. The senator’s post read in full:
“This is inexcusable. The sacrifices made by our brave troops and their families can never be forgotten. Lutnick should be fired immediately.”
The Origin of the Controversy
Lutnick’s comments trace back to a Wednesday interview on CNBC, in which he defended the Trump administration’s handling of the six-month war with Iran. “The way the president is playing Iran, right, there haven’t been American deaths,” Lutnick said. “It’s really just an economic chokeout which the administration is now executing more broadly, and I think it’ll be very effective.”
The statement was false. Eighteen U.S. service members have died since the United States first attacked Iran in February, and more than 750 others have been wounded, according to Reuters.
Lutnick’s Apology
Lutnick’s remarks initially drew limited public attention, but President Donald Trump moved to address the matter early Thursday, posting on Truth Social that “Sec. Lutnick had Venezuela on his mind when nobody was killed. 18 people were killed in Iran!”
Roughly 45 minutes later, Lutnick issued a public apology of his own on X. “I misspoke. Eighteen members of our military have died, and to those families my heart breaks and I am so very sorry for their loss. I was thinking about the Venezuelan military operation where no service members died,” Lutnick wrote.
Lutnick offered a similar explanation in a separate post, writing that he had been discussing artificial intelligence and trade policy at the G20 innovation summit when he was asked about military actions in Iran. “I answered a question about the military actions in Iran, I misspoke,” he wrote. “I was thinking about the Venezuelan military operation where no service members died.”
Markey’s Response
Markey’s post came shortly after Lutnick’s apology circulated, and reflected the senator’s characterization of the episode as unacceptable given the scale of American casualties in the conflict. His statement directly referenced “the sacrifices made by our brave troops and their families,” language that placed the focus of his criticism on the families of the 18 service members killed rather than solely on Lutnick’s misstatement itself.
Markey’s call for Lutnick’s dismissal placed him among a growing number of Democratic lawmakers who have used the episode to renew broader criticism of how the administration has communicated about American casualties throughout the war.
Markey’s Prior Iran War Criticism
Markey has been a consistent and vocal critic of the war with Iran since its outset. In an April 22 statement following a failed war powers resolution vote, Markey said the conflict was “proving to be a wasteful, unjust, and useless mission” and noted that thirteen U.S. service members had died to that point, alongside thousands of civilian deaths in the region. “I will not vote for one more penny to fund this illegal war,” he said at the time.
A week earlier, on April 15, Markey called the war “a moral tragedy and economic disaster playing out before our eyes,” citing more than 100 Iranian schoolgirls killed by American weapons and warning that the conflict was “only making the United States and the world less safe.”
Markey had earlier voted against the administration’s military approach in a March 4 war powers vote, describing the conflict as “an illegal and reckless war” that Congress never authorized. He also disputed Trump’s stated justifications for launching the war, saying the president’s claims about an “imminent threat” from Iran’s nuclear program were false.
Broader Scrutiny of Casualty Reporting
Thursday’s episode is not the first time the administration has faced questions over how it discloses information about deaths and injuries tied to the war. In July, four deaths and dozens of injuries reportedly disappeared from the running casualty totals listed on a Defense Department website before later being restored.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has separately drawn criticism for his own comments about coverage of service member deaths. At a March news conference, Hegseth complained that media outlets were overemphasizing American casualties, saying, “When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front-page news.” The remark drew sharp pushback from lawmakers in both parties who said it minimized the toll on troops and their families.
Political Fallout
The controversy adds to a difficult stretch for Lutnick, who has separately faced bipartisan calls for his resignation this year over his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Lutnick’s Thursday apology marked his second high-profile public reckoning of 2026, though the political consequences of the Iran remarks remained unclear as of Thursday afternoon.
The war with Iran, which began February 28, 2026, has remained one of the most polarizing issues in Washington, driving repeated failed war powers votes in the Senate, sustained criticism of Pentagon leadership, and mounting economic pressure tied to gas prices and defense spending. Markey’s statement on Thursday underscored how casualty figures and their public framing by administration officials have become a recurring flashpoint in that broader debate.
What Comes Next
Neither the Commerce Department nor Lutnick’s office issued additional public comment beyond his X posts as of Thursday afternoon. It also remained unclear whether Markey’s call for Lutnick’s firing would be echoed by Senate Democratic leadership or result in any formal congressional action, such as a resignation demand letter or committee inquiry, of the kind directed at Lutnick earlier this year over separate controversies.
For now, Markey’s post stands as one of the most direct rebukes from a sitting senator following Lutnick’s apology, framing the episode not simply as a misstatement but as a failure that, in Markey’s words, “should never be forgotten.”