After ‘robust’ classified briefing on Venezuela operation, Republicans say U.S. ‘not at war’

Republicans defend the administration’s actions after an evening briefing to congressional leadership on Monday night over the recent operations in Venezuela. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said after the briefing that the United States is “not at war.”

“The U.S. military operation in Venezuela was a decisive and justified action,” Mr. Johnson said. “The Maduro regime functioned as a criminal organization masquerading as a government. This was not a legitimate president of a country.”

Mr. Johnson said the operation was “not a regime change,” using a phrase not popular with President Trump’s MAGA base, but a “demand for change of behavior by a regime.”

But Democrats say they came away with more questions than answers, after the classified meeting discussed the specifics of the U.S. mission in the early morning Saturday to capture Nicolas Maduro.

A who’s who of Mr. Trump’s Cabinet arrived at the basement of the U.S. Capitol on Monday evening to brief lawmakers, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The two-hour briefing took longer than the 90-minute Operation Absolute Resolve, which involved hundreds of aircraft, ships and elite U.S. soldiers who stormed Mr. Maduro’s heavily guarded safe house to capture the dictator.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, said the briefing was a “robust discussion about the operation” in Venezuela and the future of U.S. involvement in its “clear interests” in Venezuela.

“Those interests are advanced by the steps that the military, the intelligence community, and the administration took,” Mr. Thune said.

The congressional leadership usually briefed on classified missions, often referred to as the “Gang of Eight,” comprises the leadership of the Senate and House from both parties as well as from the chamber’s intelligence committees. 

On Monday night, it was instead closer to a “Gang of 16,” as leadership from each chamber’s armed service and foreign affairs committees attended the secure briefing.

Both Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and CIA Director John Ratcliff also joined to answer lawmakers’ questions and describe the operation.

Mr. Johnson stressed after the briefing that he felt the operation was not in violation of the War Powers Act, saying he was notified “almost instantaneously” and that anyone claiming it did violate the law “either misunderstand the statute and longstanding precedent, or they’re just being disingenuous.”

“My first call was 4 a.m. by Secretary of State Rubio,” Mr. Johnson said. “If there had been prior notice, even assembling the Gang of Eight, for example, during the December holiday, it would have set off alerts.”

Those alerts, Mr. Johnson argued, could have cost American lives. 

Instead, the operation went forward in what Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat, called a “brilliant execution.”

Mr. Warner was concerned though for what precedent it would set internationally.

“Where do we go from here?” Mr. Warner asked. “Why couldn’t Vladimir Putin tomorrow say, ‘You know what Zelenskyy broke Russian law. So we’re going to go get him.’”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the briefing “posed far more questions than it ever answered” and that the Trump administration’s plan for the U.S. to run Venezuela is “vague, based on wishful thinking and unsatisfying.”

“I did not receive any assurances that we would not try to do the same thing in other countries,” the New York Democrat said.

Mr. Johnson didn’t offer much comment on what the future moving forward would look like, instead choosing to focus on the characterization of the operation itself.

The speaker stressed that the operation did not violate international law, but his colleagues across the aisle weren’t convinced.

“Our military always executes, but then the question becomes, for the policy makers, what happens the day after?” Mr. Warner said. “There’s still lots of questions.”

The entire Congress will be given a similar briefing on Wednesday, according to Mr. Johnson.

 

• Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.