Baumgartner Welcomes Renewed U.S. Blockade of Iranian Oil, Calls for Longer-term Strategy in War

The Spokesman-Review

July 16, 2026

By Orion Donovan Smith

Rep. Michael Baumgartner has been consistent about his preferred approach to the U.S. war with Iran.

When President Donald Trump agreed June 17 to end a U.S. military blockade of Iranian ships as part of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global trade in oil and other goods, the GOP congressman from Spokane said he would have rather had the blockade continue until Iran’s government gave up all of its enriched nuclear material.

After the agreement fell apart and the fighting resumed less than a month later, Baumgartner repeated that argument Monday in a post on X, calling it a “strategy/objective the American people will understand and support.” In an interview Wednesday, he elaborated on that point and called for longer-term strategy in the war.

“My strategy,” Baumgartner said, is based on the idea that “the Strait of Hormuz should not be a strength for Iran. It should be a weakness, because their energy supplies are on one side of the strait and the U.S. Navy is well equipped to keep Iranian ships from leaving.”

Read the full article in The Spokesman-Review.