House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to the media up of a unafraid briefing astir U.S. enactment successful Venezuela, connected Capitol Hill successful Washington,, D.C., U.S., Jan. 5, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
The Trump medication connected Monday briefed congressional leaders connected the U.S. subject cognition that captured Venezuelan person Nicolás Maduro, sharpening a partisan disagreement implicit the president's authorization to usage unit without legislature approval.
Top Republicans who attended the classified briefing rallied to the president's defence portion Democrats questioned the scope of the cognition and pushed to halt further subject action.
The partisan split-screen among the lawmakers briefed, who are portion of the alleged "Gang of Eight" radical authorized to person highly classified information, underscores the trouble Congress whitethorn look successful trying to rein successful President Donald Trump's subject efforts.
U.S. President Donald Trump has, successful caller days, said the U.S. would "run" Venezuela, threatened Colombia and Cuba and renewed his propulsion to get Greenland. Those remarks followed a play subject onslaught that captured Maduro from Caracas and whisked him to the U.S. to look transgression charges without anterior legislature authorization.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the raid successful Venezuela "a decisive and justified action," rejecting claims that Trump exceeded his authority.
"We are not astatine war, we bash not person U.S. equipped forces successful Venezuela and we are not occupying that country," Johnson said.
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"The Constitution gives Congress the powerfulness to state war; that is true. But it besides vests the president of the United States with immense authorities arsenic commander-in-chief," Johnson said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., meanwhile, said that the briefing raised acold much questions than it answered.
"The program for the U.S. moving Venezuela is vague, based connected wishful reasoning and unsatisfying," Schumer said. "I did not person immoderate assurances that we would not effort to bash the aforesaid happening successful different countries."
Senate Democrats program to unit a ballot aboriginal this week connected a measurement to suspend Trump's subject enactment successful Venezuela, known arsenic a warfare powers resolution. The measure, brought by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., would necessitate Trump to cease subject enactment successful Venezuela unless Congress approves it.
Kaine introduced a akin solution successful November, which the Senate rejected aft lone 2 Republicans — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky — supported it. Republicans clasp a 53-47 bulk successful the Senate, truthful astatine slightest 4 Republicans would request to interruption ranks for Kaine's measurement to succeed.
The House of Representatives would besides request to o.k. the measure. Lawmakers determination narrowly defeated a Venezuela warfare powers solution 211-213 successful December.
"There's existent interest arsenic it relates to legislature enactment connected to our sole powerfulness to state war," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., earlier the briefing. "No further subject enactment should beryllium taken successful Venezuela oregon anyplace other without explicit legislature approval, and we request to legislate that."
The lawmakers were briefed by apical members of the president's cabinet, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The medication has labored to framework the usage of the subject successful Venezuela arsenic a instrumentality enforcement action, since Maduro had outstanding warrants for his apprehension successful the United States.
Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla, the Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, who was successful the briefing, echoed that view.
"This was a instrumentality enforcement operation," Mast said. "This instrumentality enforcement cognition required large subject capabilities … due to the fact that the idiosyncratic that had to beryllium brought to justness could bring to carnivore an aerial force, a navy, an army."
Mast said Trump was not seeking a protracted subject engagement, but did not regularisation retired akin operations if the president deems them indispensable to "defend the homeland."
The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, however, who person jurisdiction implicit the U.S. instrumentality enforcement apparatus, were not invited to the briefing. They are not traditionally portion of the "Gang of Eight," but issued a associated connection excoriating the snub.
"President Trump and Secretary Rubio person stated that this was a instrumentality enforcement cognition that was made astatine the Department of Justice's (DOJ) request, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)," the connection from Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking subordinate Dick Durbin, D-Ill., read.
"The administration's refusal to admit our Committee's indisputable jurisdiction successful this substance is unacceptable and we are pursuing up to guarantee the Committee receives warranted accusation regarding Maduro's arrest," they said.
CNBC's Emily Wilkins contributed to this report.
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