A classified briefing Monday night deepened the partisan fissures on Capitol Hill over the military operation that left Venezuela’s president in American custody and President Donald Trump declaring the United States would “run” the South American country for the foreseeable future.
Democrats demanded more details from the Trump administration following the more than two-hour-long briefing. It was lawmakers’ first opportunity to hear from top national security leaders in person following the weekend’s stunning events.
“Their plan for the U.S. running Venezuela is vague, based on wishful thinking and unsatisfying,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters. “I did not receive any assurances that we would not try to do the same thing in other countries.”
Republicans rallied around Trump. They defended the operation as limited in scope while pushing back on characterizations that capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and bringing him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges amounted to regime change.
Here’s what Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters:
“This is not a regime change, this is a demand for change of behavior by a regime … We don’t expect troops on the ground, we don’t expect direct involvement in any other way beyond just coercing the new, the interim government, to get that going.”
Let’s be clear: This was a de facto regime change. The United States captured Maduro, jailed him in New York City and said they will be forcing Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president and now the interim president, to do what Trump wants. If she doesn’t, Trump has threatened to replace her too.
The briefing was held for congressional leaders and members of national security committees. Rank-and-file lawmakers are expected to get briefed separately on Wednesday.
Questions about what comes next for Venezuela dominated Capitol Hill on Monday. GOP lawmakers — including members of leadership — who haven’t yet been briefed indicated they wanted more information.
“I think the interpretation of ‘run’ has been pretty broad,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) told us.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said: “I don’t think anybody knows [enough] at this point.”
Reactions run the gambit. Other senior committee Republicans weren’t especially animated. Heading into the briefing, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said his panel would “probably” hold a public hearing on Venezuela. Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said he believed Secretary of State Marco Rubio had “clarified” what it means for the United States to “run” Venezuela.
Rubio joined other administration officials — such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine — in briefing lawmakers Monday night.
In a Monday interview with NBC News, Trump reiterated that he was ultimately in control of Venezuela policy and said oil companies would “get reimbursed by us, or through revenue” for rebuilding the country’s fossil fuel infrastructure. Such a move would likely need congressional approval.
