WASHINGTON — A US Marine-turned-senator doubts America will deploy large numbers of ground forces to fight Islamic State militants.

When lawmakers return next week from a Presidents Day recess, they are expected to begin work in earnest on a measure that would legally authorize US military operations against the violent Islamic organization.

Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal, D-Ct., on Wednesday dismissed any notion that the US military is too worn out after over a decade of war to fight Islamic State.

"As a member of the Armed Services Committee, what I'm hearing is this military is far from exhausted," Blumenthal said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "We have tremendous resources."

Blumenthal called the US military "ready for this challenge."

But, he said, under the Obama administration's current strategy, only a small fraction of the military actually will participate.

"It's not going to be the same challenge of massive numbers of US combat troops on the ground," he said.

"It's going to the … special operations in these countries that provide intelligence, that protect American citizens, that enable the kinetic attacks and strikes, and that make sure we're safe in the homeland."

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So far, the White House has ordered 2,600 American troops back to Iraq to fight the group. But those forces mostly are training local forces, and other American troops are carrying out air strikes.

Congressional Democrats want any authorization of the use of military force (AUMF) to include language that slaps restrictions on what US ground forces can do; Republicans want to give the president broad authority to order ground troops to do whatever he deems necessary.

email: jbennett@defensenews.com

Twitter:@bennettjohnt

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