Top Trump Pentagon Official Says He’s ‘Not The Right Person’ to Ask If the US Is At War

Elbridge Colby, who serves as the under secretary of defense for policy at the Pentagon, demurred when a Democratic congresswoman asked whether the U.S. was “at war” with Iran.

The Trump administration has sent mixed signals on whether the military action against Iran is an actual “war” or merely a “conflict,” since Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution permits only Congress to officially declare war, which it has not done in this case.

Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) denied that the U.S. is at war.

“We’re not at war right now, we’re four days into a very specific, clear mission and operation,” Johnson told reporters at his weekly press conference, even though Iran had declared war on the United States and President Donald Trump has repeatedly called the operation a “war.”

Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) asked Colby Thursday, “Are we at war with Iran?”

“I think we’re in a military action at this point. I’ll leave it to Congress and lawyers, etc., from the administration to determine,” Colby answered.

“Okay, so, yesterday, the president said, ‘We are doing very well on the warfront,’ and previously, he said, We should expect American casualties because — quote — ‘that often happens in war,'” Jacobs said. “Is the president wrong when he says we are at war?”

“Well, I won’t add or subtract to anything the president — I won’t presume to do so,” Colby answered. “But I know this is a material matter in front of the Congress and between the administration. I’m not the right person to weigh in on exactly the criteria.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also referred to the military action as “war.”

“This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it,” Hegseth said this week.

This week, Senate Republicans voted down legislation that could have stopped the U.S. military action in Iran. The war powers resolution brought by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) failed 47-53, mostly along party lines, except for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who voted in favor, and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who voted against it.

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