Democratic Senator Mark Kelly said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s approach to bombing Iran “wasn’t to accomplish a strategic goal” and has made the U.S. “less safe” by depleting munitions stockpiles.
“He seemed to me to be focused on, you know, how much stuff can we blow up,” Kelly said on the On NOTUS podcast. “Usually you would do that to kind of shape the battlefield for something else. … They did this just to set records, in my view.”
The comments came after Hegseth told Kelly at a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that it could take “months and years” to replenish stockpiles for key munitions.
Hegseth threatened legal action against Kelly for disclosing classified material after the senator made similar comments Sunday on “Face the Nation.”
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In a social media post, Kelly said the figures he cited were from Hegseth’s public testimony.
“That’s not classified, it’s a quote from you,” Kelly said Sunday in a post on X. “This war is coming at a serious cost and you and the president still haven’t explained to the American people what the goal is.”
Citing the state of American munitions stockpiles, Kelly did not rule out supporting a supplemental defense appropriations package.
In conversation with On NOTUS at a McCain Institute forum in Arizona, Kelly called the effort in Iran “stuck” and promised more Authorization for Use of Military Force votes that he expects will eventually attract Republican support.
“As more Republicans realize the path that Donald Trump took us down, got into this thing without a strategic goal, without a detailed plan, without a timeline, and clearly without a way to get out of it, I think they’re going to become more disillusioned with this president,” Kelly said.
Kelly reiterated that he has not yet made a decision about a possible 2028 presidential bid, but said potential campaign attacks would not affect his thought process.
“I’ve been through tough things before,” Kelly said. “My wife — nearly assassinated, missiles blow up next to my airplane — I mean, if I was to decide to do it, it’s more about, ‘Am I the right person at the right moment?’”
A former astronaut, Kelly also said he would volunteer for a mission to Mars, but does not see much long-term potential in colonizing the planet.
“Sometimes you’ll hear people talk about, like, living on Mars and colonizing Mars,” Kelly said. “Mars is a shit planet. … This idea that we need Mars as like the escape hatch, like we’re all going to move there someday, I don’t buy that.”
On NOTUS is a weekly podcast where NOTUS reporters talk to lawmakers about how they got to Washington and what motivates them. You can download or listen here.
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