Despite the administration insisting for the past three months that they would never, ever consider boots on the ground in Iraq, Secretary of State John Kerry today informed the Senate that President Obama is actively seeking options for how to use ground troops in the war.

Kerry insisted no decision was made yet on ground troops, and that there still is no plan for doing so, but warned Congress against any war authorization that “binds the hands” of the president by excluding a ground war.

Interestingly, previous administration talk of getting an authorization for a ground war was much more open to limitations on how ground troops would be used, and now they seem reluctant for any serious limits.

That may reflect the incoming Senate, which is packed with hawks looking to dramatically escalate the war, which means the administration can likely get a more hawkish authorization at its leisure in January and doesn’t feel like settling for something that might keep the ground war from being launched at will.