Mark Kelly signals he won’t back war powers vote: 'At this point, it’s unlikely'

WASHINGTON, DC: Senator Mark Kelly said he is unlikely to support a war powers vote after the US and Israel attacked Iran because the White House did not consult Congress first.

He is now joining other lawmakers who want to push to check President Trump’s military authority, saying he is worried about the administration’s lack of a clear plan. 

Mark Kelly demands White House strategy clarity

When appearing on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday, March 1, Senator Kelly made it clear that he needs more information before backing the administration’s recent actions.

“I’m going to have to take a close look at it. I want to hear from the White House what their strategy is going forward. I will say at this point, it’s rather unlikely that I would be a yes,” Kelly said.

He expressed frustration that the administration did not speak to Congress before the strikes and noted that the president also did not explain his reasons to the public during his recent State of the Union address.

“They went into this without any discussion with us ahead of time, and by the way, why during the State of the Union, didn’t the president make a case to the American people on why he’s going to conduct an attack on Iran?” the senator asked.

Mark Kelly questions Pete Hegseth’s defense leadership

Furthermore, Senator Kelly added that he does not have faith in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“Well, I didn’t vote for him, and I had previously said, and I maintain, that he’s the least qualified secretary of Defense we’ve ever had in our country’s history. So no, I don’t think he is the person to be leading this, but he is who Donald Trump chose to be secretary of Defense,” Kelly explained.

He finished by saying, “So unless he’s fired, he’s going to remain in that job. So yeah, sure that concerns me.”

It may be mentioned that Kelly made his remarks as Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie lead an effort in the House to limit President Trump’s war-making powers, while Senator Tim Kaine supports a similar measure in the Senate.

Earlier, Kaine questioned whether the president had ignored past lessons about war and whether he was “too mentally incapacitated to realize that we had a diplomatic agreement with Iran that was keeping its nuclear program in check, until he ripped it up during his first term?”