Lisa McClain

MICHIGAN — Michigan lawmakers are sounding off in reaction to U.S. and Israel strikes against Iran. Some lawmakers are issuing statements in support of the strikes, while others are decrying the action.

Their reactions on Saturday have been split down party lines, with Republicans supporting the strikes and Democrats opposing them.

The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran early Saturday, Feb. 28, the Associated Press reported. Some of the first strikes appeared to hit areas around the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iranian media reported strikes nationwide.

Hours after the strikes, Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region, according to the AP.

In Trump’s 8-minute announcement of the “major combat operations,” he told Iranians that “when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”

The “massive and ongoing operation,” Trump said, is “to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests.”

U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan, issued a statement Saturday, saying President Donald Trump “hasn’t made his case to the American people” for the strikes.

“Unlike the U.S. strike on Iran back in June, this operation doesn’t appear to be a one-and-done, so we’re thinking about the safety of our servicemembers and their families,” Slotkin said. “Likewise, many Michiganders have family in the Middle East who are at risk right now as Iran is striking a number of countries. We pray for their safety as well.”

As a former CIA officer who served three tours in Iraq, she said she has “no love lost for the Iranian government.” She also called Iran a “state sponsor of terror.”

“But issues of war and peace should be treated with the utmost consequence,” she said. “And President Trump hasn’t made his case to the American people. He hasn’t laid out the goals or the imminent threat posed by Iran that justifies risking a wider regional war. And he hasn’t followed the Constitution and brought this issue before Congress before committing our nation to war.”

U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, supported the military action in Iran in a statement on his X account.

“The Iranian regime’s decades of terror—costing American soldiers and innocents life and limb—must be answered for," James who is running for governor, said. “Appeasement invites war; their threats to America must end.”

Despite his support for the strikes, James said he hates war.

“No one hates war more than a vet. But America’s worth fighting for. Freedom’s worth fighting for,” he said. “Pray for our troops, our President, and the Iranian people. God Bless America.”

U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, voiced her support.

“President Trump has taken decisive action against the world’s number one state sponsor of terror - a regime that has targeted American troops and called for ‘death to America.’” McClain said. “May God bless our Commander in Chief and military leaders with wisdom through this operation and may He keep our troops in His care.”

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, called for the Trump administration to immediately brief Congress on the strikes against Iran.

“The President just acknowledged he is risking American lives by dragging us into another ‘war’ in the Middle East, without Congress’ approval,” Peters said in a statement posted on his X account Saturday. “Our Constitution requires this check for a reason. The American people don’t want to send their sons and daughters to another unjustified forever war across the world.

He called Iran “a bad actor” and said the U.S. “must ensure they never produce nuclear weapons.”

“We had a diplomatic agreement with Iran on nuclear proliferation and President Trump withdrew during his first term without a plan for what comes next because he was playing petty politics,” he said. “Now, he’s sending American servicemembers back to the Middle East to attempt to fix the problems he created.”

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, issued a statement on Saturday on his X account in favor the strikes on Iran.

“President Trump sought repeatedly to make a deal with the Iranian regime, which has continued to be a destabilizing force in the Middle East,” Walberg said. “The regime has murdered tens of thousands of innocent civilians in their own streets, supported terrorist groups that have killed thousands of Americans, harmed our servicemembers, and threatened our national security through their pursuit of attaining a nuclear weapon.”

Walberg said Trump has announced “a decisive and strategic operation to restore peace through strength,” he said. “May God bless the brave men and women of our military who are conducting this critical operation.”

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, called the military action in Iran an “illegal war of aggression.”

“The American people do not want a war with Iran. Trump is acting on the violent fantasies of the American political elite and the Israeli apartheid government, ignoring the vast majority of Americans who say loud and clear: No More Wars,” Tlaib said.

“The Trump Administration and Israeli regime’s illegal war of aggression on Iran has already killed dozens of children, and more horrific death and destruction will come,” she said. “These acts of war threaten to ignite a catastrophic regional war that will make no one safer while unleashing unconscionable suffering.”

She called for Congress to “stop the bloodshed by immediately reconvening to exert its war powers and stop this deranged president.”

State Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, responded to the military action in Iran on social media Saturday morning.

“If I believed that freedom from one of the world’s most brutal and oppressive regimes for 100 million brave Iranians could be delivered through US airstrikes, I would be the first one cheering and applauding the actions of an administration I loathe,” Arbit said in a post on his Facebook account. “But I don’t.”

He said he is concerned about “a politicized military embarking on airstrikes without any conceivable strategic goal.”

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, also criticized the strikes.

“President Trump has once again put Americans in harm’s way without consulting Congress—the latest in a series of grave violations of our Constitution by this Administration," Stevens, who is running for U.S. Senate, said. “I am praying for the safety of our troops and all the innocent people who have spent today taking refuge in bomb shelters across the region.”

“For decades, Iran’s state sponsorship of terror across the globe has led to chaos and unchecked violence,” she said. “We cannot ignore that an armed and nuclear Iran would bring even more violence and chaos to the Middle East and the entire world. We also cannot ignore the imperative to achieve freedom for the people of Iran, who have bravely spoken out through protest in recent weeks.”

“At Trump’s direction, Speaker Johnson has blocked multiple opportunities to reassert Congress’ war power authority,” she said. “Congress and the White House must work together with our allies to achieve peace in the Middle East, stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, end Iran’s support for terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, and keep Americans safe at home and abroad.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers, a former U.S. representative, called Iran “an imminent threat to our country” that “must not have a nuclear weapon.”

“Iran has murdered thousands of Americans. Cried out for ‘Death to America.’ Sponsored terrorism around the globe—including funneling money to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis," Rogers said. “And even tried to assassinate President Trump and cabinet officials.”