The Hill News

The third-ranking Republican in the House criticized President Obama’s handling of Libya on Tuesday, saying the president has not been clear on the goals of the U.S. military mission and that he waited too long to intervene.

“I’ve got a little problem with what the president is doing here,” Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in an appearance on KGET-17, a California television station.

“I have a concern: What is the mission? What is the goal?” he added. McCarthy said he would not have waited a week after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi intensified his attacks on rebels to intervene. The “delaying of action,” he said, “made Gadhafi stronger.”

“I would have made a decision much sooner than the president would have done,” McCarthy said.

While lawmakers from both parties have questioned the Libya mission, McCarthy’s critique goes further than a statement issued by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Su! nday, where he voiced support for the military but called on Obama to step up his communication with Congress and the America people about the U.S. involvement in North Africa.

A spokeswoman for McCarthy said he shared Boehner’s concern about the extent of the president’s consultation with Congress.