Sen. Mark Kelly on Iran war budget, Russia-Ukraine War and more

(CBS, KYMA) - Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about the Iran war budget.

According to CBS News, the cost of the Iran war is at least $50 billion, with Brennan saying Sen. Kelly has been pressing the Pentagon on "defining just how many of our munitions have been used up in the course of this conflict to date."

Brennan also said Kelly had been worried about how the U.S. would hold up in a conflict with China because of all of this.

When asked if he has received an answer on how depleted U.S. munitions are, the senator said:

"Yes, we have...we've been tracking it a number of times. We've been briefed by the Pentagon on specific munitions. Actually, it's been pretty detailed on Tomahawks, ATACMS, SM-3, THAAD rounds, Patriot rounds, so those interceptor rounds to defend ourselves. And the numbers are, I think it's fair to say it's shocking the how deep we have gone into these magazines, because this president got our country into this without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline, and because of that, we've expended a lot of munitions, and that means the American people are less safe, whether it's a conflict in the western Pacific with China or somewhere else in the world, the munitions are depleted. [I have asked] the Secretary of Defense this question about how long it's going to take to replenish. We're talking about years."

Brennan followed up by asking Kelly if he thinks the U.S. would be able to defend Taiwan if China tries to move against it, and the senator said:

"It all depends on the length of a conflict. You know, conflict that lasts a matter of days or just weeks, I think we're well positioned to do that. If a conflict goes on for months or years, when it takes years to replenish some of these munitions. Of course, we're going to be in a worse posture than we otherwise would be in if this war in Iran didn't happen. And by the way, what are the American people getting out of this? This president said he wasn't going to start any new wars. He was going to bring down costs. He's done exactly the opposite. War against Iran. Costs on everything are up."

Brennan then asked the senator if it was impossible for a Democrat, like Kelly, would say no to the White House's request for $1.5 billion in defense spending, and Kelly said:

"First of all, let me just back up a second. Things like this, nothing is inevitable. There are always other options. During the Obama administration, the Iran deal, the JCPOA kept the enrichment at a lower level, Donald Trump tore that up. That's the reasonwe're here. But this also was not inevitable. There were other things that we could do. The $1.5 trillion request from this administration. It's outrageous. When I got to the Senate five and a half years ago, the defense budget was just over $700 billion. Now, they're asking for twice as much money. It's nearly the amount that the rest of the world pays for its defense...there's stuff in there, like the Golden Dome, the physics on that stuff is really, really hard. I'm very confident we're going to spend a lot of money, and we're going to get a system that doesn't work. There are other things in there we do not need. I mean, they need to submit a defense budget that makes sense for the moment we're in."

During the interview, Brennan and Kelly talked about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War, with a three-day ceasefire taking place to allow prisoner exchanges and a parade Russian President Vladimir Putin holds annually.

Putin also said Saturday the conflict between Russia and Ukraine may be "coming to an end, but it is still a serious matter."

This prompted Brennan to ask Kelly how he interprets Putin's statement, and he said:

"I think it's a positive, you know, statement, we want this to end. Nobody wants this to end more than the Ukrainian people, I'm going to be traveling back to Ukraine here in about three weeks or so to meet with government officials, to get firsthand what the status of the conflict is, to hear from the Ukrainian people. We want this to end. They want it to end. I think one of the barriers to peace is that Donald Trump has not provided the support to the Ukrainian government, the Ukrainian people, that Ukraine needs instead. You know, he often. I mean, we've seen this over and over again, how he's got this odd relationship with Putin. He refuses to press Putin, in a way. He's backed off on sanctions. He's not put the pressure on the Russian government with the tools that we actually have to get an outcome and get this conflict to end."

Later in the interview, Brennan and Kelly talked about the latter being in court this past week as he is suing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accusing him of violating the senator's free speech rights.

The senator also said the case will be going to the Supreme Court, leading Brennan to ask why he thinks that's where it's heading, and Kelly said:

"I actually don't know, you know, how this thing ends. I mean, the Supreme Court could take it up. Maybe they decide not to. I do know this, that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump tend to double down on bad ideas. You know, that's why, you know, I said that. But you know, the bottom line on this thing is, this isn't about me, you know, I said something. It was very clear what we said, you know, do not obey illegal orders. They're saying I said something else, that doesn't make any sense. What they said in court just the other day, on Thursday is that if retired service members like me and the other two million retired service members out there want to be able to exercise their First Amendment rights, they can give up their retirement, so give up their pension, give up their healthcare, give up that retired status. Think about that for a second. The people who have given the most to this country, this administration wants them to give up their constitutional rights."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Kelly, click here.