White House to Address Congress’ Venezuela Questions |
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........