Lawmakers returned to Washington, D.C. on Monday with a new item on their agenda—getting clarity on the administration’s policy in Venezuela after the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife by U.S. forces.
The White House hastily scheduled a briefing for Monday evening with congressional leaders. Punchbowl News reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, and Attorney General Pam Bondi would all brief members.
Punchbowl reported that the briefing would “include top lawmakers on the House and Senate Armed Services, Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs panels, as well as the ‘Gang of Eight,’ the bipartisan party leaders from both chambers and top members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees.”
Some members publicly objected to the administration not informing leadership of the attack in advance. On Saturday, Rubio addressed the lack of prior notice, saying, “This is not the kind of mission you can pre-notify.”
Trump said Congress’ “tendency to leak” information contributed to the decision not to give advance notice.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was an early Republican to criticize the lack of notice to Congress, writing on X after the operation, “Congress should have been informed about the operation earlier and needs to be involved as this situation evolves.”
Democrats also drew their own battle lines, accusing the administration of having usurped Congress’ power to declare war.
Maduro’s capture “was a military action, and pursuant to the Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“And we’ve got to make sure when we return to Washington, D.C., that legislative action is taken to ensure that no further military steps occur absent explicit congressional approval,” Jeffries added.
Rubio has maintained that the United States has not embarked on a war against a state but rather is conducting a law enforcement operation to bring Maduro to justice as a leader of a drug trafficking cartel.
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been indicted for various drug trafficking and firearm possession charges, to which they pleaded “not guilty” on Monday in a New York federal district court. Maduro also pleaded “not guilty” to charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, expressed his satisfaction with the White House on CBS’ Face The Nation on Sunday, and supported its authority to use force.
“They keep me apprised of what their plans are and what’s going on. I mean, I spoke in the last 24 hours not just with the President, but with his senior team,” said Cotton.
“Congress has acted to provide the president the resources and authority that he needs to protect the vital interests of the United States… he has the inherent authority under the constitution to protect these American national interests,” he added.
Democrats had a different perspective ahead of Monday’s briefing.
“I was delighted to hear that Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, has been in regular contact with the administration,” said Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, in a sarcastic tone on Face the Nation.
“I’ve had zero outreach and no Democrat that I’m aware of has had any outreach whatsoever,” Himes continued, “So apparently we’re now in a world where the legal obligation to keep Congress informed only applies to your party.”
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires that the president notify bicameral Congressional leadership, as well as the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees, within 48 hours of deploying military force.
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, told The Daily Signal in a statement that he shares the administration’s view of the strike as a law enforcement operation and not an act of war.
“President Trump is demonstrating that peace through strength means acting decisively in the best interest of America while making clear this is not a war against the nation of Venezuela, but a commitment to keeping the Western Hemisphere secure for the American people,” Jackson said in a statement.
Jackson added that America’s priority is to “protect our homeland by dismantling drug trafficking networks, expel anti-American influence from our hemisphere, and prevent Venezuela’s resources from funding hostile regimes.”
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., in a Monday morning interview with an Oklahoma television station, said he knew an operation was in the works but was unaware of the logistical details.
“We knew a lot of the operation was being planned. We didn’t know the day. We didn’t know exactly how they were going to actually do that. That is something they held very close to the vest, obviously,” said Lankford.
Lankford also responded to Democrat claims that the operation constituted an act of war without notice to Congress.
“There are reasonable questions to ask about congressional notification,” he said.
“This was not a military operation in the sense of going and taking over… This is not initiating a war. This is an arrest that’s happening, again, similar to what we did with [Mexican drug cartel leader] El Chapo and others on this.”
