RAYMOND, Wis. – ER nurse and Democratic candidate for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District Mitchell Berman is calling out Rep. Bryan Steil for voting against the War Powers Resolution to end the reckless war in Iran, even as a bipartisan House majority voted today to demand exactly that.
Berman issued the following statement:
“As someone who worked at the VA, I saw firsthand the wounds our young men and women brought back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress has a responsibility to hold the White House accountable for launching – and sustaining – yet another costly, directionless war overseas. The War Powers Act of 1973 was sponsored by Clement Zablocki, a Congressman from Milwaukee and the namesake of the Zablocki VA in Milwaukee, where I began my career as a VA nurse. Now, more than three months into the war in Iran, families in Wisconsin are feeling the pain of high prices at the pump and need relief. Congress is finally stepping up, but Bryan Steil is still ignoring his Constitutional responsibility.”
Today’s House vote invoked the War Powers Act of 1973, which requires the president to obtain Congressional authorization within 60 days of committing U.S. forces to a military engagement. U.S. military involvement in Iran began on February 28, meaning that deadline passed weeks ago and with no authorization sought and no exit strategy outlined by the White House. The resolution passed today despite Steil’s opposition.
Born and raised in a one-stoplight town in rural Wisconsin, Mitchell Berman learned the values of community, integrity, and hard work from his parents. He was the first in his family to graduate college, working three jobs and taking out student loans to earn his degree. Determined to build a life through grit and perseverance, not privilege, he started working at age 12 and became a union member while in college. Berman is an emergency room nurse who has served veterans at the VA for more than a decade. A devoted husband and father, he’s running for Congress to put people over politics, and to fight for Wisconsin families.
The First Congressional District is one of the most competitive in the country, and has been named a “District in Play” by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The district encompasses Janesville, Kenosha, Racine, Beloit, Elkhorn, Whitewater, and the Milwaukee suburbs of Cudahy, St. Francis, and South Milwaukee. In 2024, Donald Trump carried the swing district narrowly with just 51 percent of the vote. In both the 2023 and 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, Justices Janet Protasiewicz and Susan Crawford won the district handily by 6- and 6.5-point margins, respectively, and Justice-Elect Chris Taylor carried the district by ~20 points in April 2026. The primary election will take place on August 11, 2026, with the general election on November 3rd. Learn more at BermanForCongress.com.
