Geoff Bennett:
For perspective on how Congress is weighing the unfolding situation in the Middle East, we’re joined now by Republican Senator Katie Britt of Alabama.
Senator Katie Britt, welcome to the program.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL):
Thank you, Geoff. I appreciate you all having me.
Geoff Bennett:
The Senate this evening rejected a war powers resolution that would limit the president’s ability to strike in Iran. It would require congressional approval. What about that did you find objectionable?
Sen. Katie Britt:
Look, the president has the authority under Article II to conduct the strikes that he is executing right now.
The president’s mission has been well laid out. He wants to make sure that we keep Americans safe and secure, that we ultimately destroy Iran’s military, their missile capability, the ability to manufacture those, also their naval fleet, and any ability to regain or reconstitute nuclear enrichment.
When we’re looking at bad actors across the world, Iran has been at the top of that list. So allowing the president to finish the mission that was begun I think is critically important. We have seen this authority be given to presidents certainly over my lifetime, and I, for one, am proud that the president continues to put Americans front and center.
Geoff Bennett:
When you say finish the mission, at what point do you believe Congress should have a formal vote on this conflict?
Sen. Katie Britt:
Well, the president will have a number of days to obviously complete this. He’s laid out that it’ll take a little bit of time to be able to do that, but that we are well ahead of schedule of where they planned to be.
So the president, not only with the number of their military leaders and obviously the ayatollah that have been taken out, but their number of munitions, missile capabilities and capacity that has already been diminished. So I think they have got a plan in place to finish the job. It will not be done overnight, but we will certainly hopefully conclude in the weeks ahead.
There are no plans at this point to put boots on the ground, and the president obviously wants the safety and security of our troops to be of paramount importance. And certainly our heart is broken and our prayers go out to the family of those who have already lost loved ones. We know that their selfless sacrifice ultimately are going to keep Americans safe both in the region and here at home.
Geoff Bennett:
A question about that, because regime change in the Middle East has often produced instability. History shows that conflicts with Iran can escalate quickly through proxies.
How confident are you that the U.S. won’t be pulled into a broader regional war?
Sen. Katie Britt:
Look, the president has made it very clear. He is going to make sure that we actually achieve peace through strength again.
For over 47 years, we have had leaders that look the other way or tried to placate the regime, and what happened is, they enriched it. We look at what happened to the Iranian people, not only the conditions in which they were living, but also the 30,000 Iranians that were slaughtered just by this ayatollah that we know about.
It is clear that now is the time to act. The president knew, given what happened in the previous administration, the lax sanctions when you go even go back before that with President Obama and the JCPOA, that this regime utilized that funding to build up their military capabilities that ultimately put people there in the region, on our military bases and obviously our allies, but even has the ability to put people here at home at risk.
And so I feel confident that the president will continue to make decisive decisions, that he is committed to making sure that we finish the job, and do it thoroughly and as quickly as possible. So I know that one other thing that is important is that, when he says he’s going to do something, Geoff, he follows through with it.
He gave Iran an opportunity to come to the table, to make the right decisions, to move it forward. But gone are the days that we’re going to look the other way at the expense of American citizens. We have seen that with securing our border. We have seen that with making sure that we actually halt fentanyl and halt that movement throughout our country.
And the president means it when it comes to the largest state sponsor of terrorism, which is Iran, the actual head of the snake. The ayatollah is now gone. We need to make sure that their proxies do not have the funding or the resources or the equipment to be able to hurt Americans in the region or here at home.
Geoff Bennett:
Given, though, that the Constitution gives Congress the authority to declare war, if Congress doesn’t debate or take a vote on this conflict in particular, how are you and your colleagues fulfilling your roles as representatives of the public on a decision as consequential as war, especially when six in 10 Americans, according to a new CNN poll, say they disapprove of the strikes in Iran?
Sen. Katie Britt:
My question would be, then how did President Obama do it and how did President Biden do it?
When you are creating strikes from the air and you’re taking out other people’s capabilities, we have seen parties — and I actually have seen clips of Nancy Pelosi telling us that it is absolutely well within Barack Obama’s constitutional authority to be able to carry out those strikes and carry them out for a number of days.
So, at this point in time, we have airstrikes that are targeted at various targets throughout Iran. We have a mission that’s been set in front of the American people. And I have full confidence in President Trump and Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth to finish that mission.
Now, if there is a different — a different change of events that occurs, I feel confident in our ability here in the Senate to have those kinds of conversations that need to be had. And I think that we’re certainly all up to that task.
Geoff Bennett:
Meantime, the Department of Homeland Security, as you well know, remains partially unfunded amid negotiations over immigration enforcement policies.
You have said that you have reengaged in negotiations with Democrats. What concrete progress has been made toward ending this partial shutdown?
Sen. Katie Britt:
Yes.
And I would say, look, when it comes to the Department of Homeland Security, it is not just a partial shutdown. It is a complete shutdown with regards to us not doing our job. So I think it’s imperative that we come back to the table.
What we have seen over the last 18 days is conversations between the minority leader’s office and the White House. At this point in time, I think it is time for members who were elected by the people in their states that stood up and said, yes, I want to serve, yes, I want to get in a room and have tough conversations to actually do that.
I think there’s absolutely a pathway forward here, but there’s not ever going to be one if we’re not having conversations. So I’ve reengaged with conversations with my Democratic colleagues. Other Republicans have been doing the same thing.
But I think, at this point in time, where you have a heightened threat environment here in our interior, it is of the utmost importance that the people whose job and mission it is to keep Americans safe here at home are not worrying about financial insecurity, but rather are receiving a paycheck, that the mission is fully funded, and that we put the safety and security of Americans before politics.
And that’s certainly what I’m trying to do.
Geoff Bennett:
Republican Senator Katie Britt, thanks for joining us this evening.
Sen. Katie Britt:
Thanks so much, Geoff. I appreciate it.
