Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts voted 14 times against Senate measures to end United States military action against Iran that Congress never authorized, from a June 27, 2025 vote after the first strikes through a September 24, 2026 vote that failed 49 to 50. Three of those measures failed by a single vote, so his vote alone would have changed each result. The war that began on February 28, 2026 has killed at least 21 service members and wounded 865, among them Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens of Bellevue, Nebraska.
Ricketts also cast one of the 50 votes that confirmed Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, who then ran the war. On the Senate floor on March 4, 2026, he said "we have to destroy their ability to threaten us and their neighbors right now," and in August he called for continuing to do military strikes. Gasoline in Nebraska rose 56.1 percent in the war's first six months.
Pete Ricketts's Votes and Statements on the Iran War
- Ricketts Voted 13 Times in 2026 Against Ending the War With Iran. From March 4 to September 24, 2026, Pete Ricketts voted no 13 times on Senate measures directing the President to remove forces from hostilities with Iran that Congress had not authorized: on March 4, March 18, March 24, April 15, April 22, April 30, May 19, June 16, June 23, June 24, July 23, July 30 and September 24. The July 30 and September 24 measures each failed 49 to 50 and the June 16 measure failed 47 to 48, so a yes vote from Ricketts would have advanced each one. On June 24 the Senate voted 47 to 50 against taking up S.J.Res. 185, the one Iran resolution it had discharged from committee, and it died. Most of the war's 865 wounded were hurt after July 7, when fighting restarted, and about 50,000 troops remain in the region; Hegseth has estimated they will remain until at least early 2027.
- Ricketts Voted Against Limiting Military Action Against Iran After the June 2025 Strikes. On June 27, 2025, six days after bombers struck three Iranian nuclear sites without Congressional approval, Ricketts voted no on bringing up Senator Tim Kaine's resolution to remove forces from hostilities against Iran that Congress had not authorized. It failed 47 to 53. The Defense Intelligence Agency's early assessment said the strikes likely only set it back by months; eight months later the United States launched a major strike on Iran with Israel.
- Ricketts Cast One of the 50 Votes That Confirmed Pete Hegseth, Who Ran the War. On January 24, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense. The vote was 50 to 50 and the Vice President broke the tie, so Hegseth would not have been confirmed without Ricketts's vote; on February 5 Ricketts said, "We confirmed Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense." He also voted to confirm Stephen Feinberg as deputy secretary of defense and General Dan Caine as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On the war's first day a military investigation preliminarily found the United States responsible for a Tomahawk missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, using outdated data provided by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, and Iranian authorities said the attack killed at least 175 people, including scores of civilians. The Pentagon put the war's cost at $43.6 billion as of September 2026.
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm Kash Patel, Who Fired Iran Counterintelligence Staff Days Before the War. On February 20, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Kash Patel as FBI director, and he was confirmed 51 to 49. Days before the war began, Patel fired a dozen agents and staff members from a counterintelligence unit that monitored threats from Iran, CNN reported, citing two sources, and officials worried that investigations of threats inside the country could be hampered by a mass exodus of national security experts.
- Ricketts Voted Against a Plan to Protect Consumers From Iran-War Price Increases in April 2026. On April 22, 2026, Ricketts voted no on waiving budget rules for Senator John Hickenlooper's amendment "to establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to ensuring that consumers are protected from price increases associated with tariffs and the Iran war." It failed 47 to 51. By October 16 the national average for gasoline was $4.33 a gallon, or 45% above its prewar level, and Moody's economist Mark Zandi put the war's cost at about $2,000 per household, including $1,100 in higher energy prices, $540 in higher interest rates.
- Ricketts Backed the War on the Senate Floor the Day He Voted Against the First 2026 War Powers Resolution. On March 4, 2026, honoring Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens of Bellevue on the Senate floor, Ricketts affirmed his support for Operation Epic Fury, the war's official name, and said "we have to destroy their ability to threaten us and their neighbors right now." On a press call that day he said Senator Kaine "is trying to limit the president's ability to protect us," and asked when the conflict would need congressional approval, he said, "We will see how this all develops." He then voted against Kaine's resolution. Tietjens, 42, was among the six Americans killed after an Iranian missile struck a military operations center in Kuwait.
- Ricketts Called for More Strikes on Iran in August 2026 While Saying the War Raised Nebraska Gas Prices. At an August 12, 2026 summit Ricketts said the United States should keep the pressure on Iran, blocking the ports, the sanctions, and continuing to do military strikes. Three days later in Hastings he said, "We know that the conflict in Iran does put pressure on families here because of the rising gas prices," while calling the war necessary. In June 2026 a University of Nebraska at Omaha economics professor said the war was costing Nebraskans as much as an extra $150 to their monthly expenses in higher gas prices.
What the Iran War Pete Ricketts Voted to Continue Has Cost Nebraska
- A Nebraska soldier killed. Sergeant 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42 years old, of Bellevue, Nebraska, an Army reservist, was killed in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, in the first days of the war, the Pentagon announced.
- Gasoline. Regular gasoline in Nebraska rose from $2.59 a gallon on February 18, 2026 to $4.04 on August 20, up 56.1 percent, according to AAA prices compiled by Visual Capitalist.
- Farm costs. The war has driven fertilizer prices up more than 30% since February and raised diesel costs for Nebraska farmers heading into planting season, KOLN reported in March 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pete Ricketts on Iran war
What is Pete Ricketts's record on the Iran war under Trump?
Pete Ricketts voted 14 times against Senate measures to end military action against Iran that Congress never authorized, including three that failed by one vote, the last on September 24, 2026, and he cast one of the 50 votes that confirmed Pete Hegseth, whose department ran the war. The war has killed 21 service members, among them a Bellevue soldier, and cost the Pentagon $43.6 billion by September 2026. Ricketts has called for continuing to do military strikes.
Did Pete Ricketts vote to let Congress stop the Iran war?
No. Pete Ricketts voted no on 13 Iran war powers measures in 2026, including the June 24, 2026 vote against taking up the one Iran resolution the Senate had discharged from committee. The last of them, on September 24, failed in the Senate by a 49-50 vote, and a yes vote from Ricketts would have passed it.
Does Pete Ricketts say the Iran war raised gas prices?
Yes. Pete Ricketts said in August 2026 that the conflict in Iran does put pressure on families here because of the rising gas prices, while still backing the war. By August 20, Nebraska gasoline was $4.04 a gallon, up from $2.59 before the war.
Have Nebraska service members died in the Iran war?
Yes. Pete Ricketts honored Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens of Bellevue on the Senate floor on March 4, 2026, and the same day voted against the first 2026 war powers resolution. Across the war, 21 service members have died as of the Pentagon's October 15, 2026 report.
Last updated: 2026-10-25