A member of security peers inside a closed Venezuela briefing in the Capitol Visitor Center on Jan. 5, 2025. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Top congressional leaders emerged from tonight's 2+ hours classified briefing with radically different interpretations of the Trump administration's short- and long-term goals for Venezuela.
Why it matters: The two parties are deeply split on legal and constitutional justifications for the action.
Republicans insisted the operation did not constitute an act of war. "We do not have US armed forces in Venezuela, and we are not occupying that country," said House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Democrats say Trump started a war that will have dire — and perhaps widespread — outcomes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said they did "not receive any assurances that we would not try to do the same thing in other countries."
The briefers included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. A broader congressional briefing is expected Wednesday, Johnson said.
The big picture: SenateMajority Leader John Thune told reporters lawmakers had "lots of questions" for the briefers, but he was "sufficiently satisfied with the answers to the questions."
He called it a "a very robust discussion about the operation and ... the path forward."
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said she now had "a better understanding" of what Trump meant about the U.S. running Venezuela.
Between the lines: There are fresh fears on the Democratic side that Trump is eyeing the takeover of territory such as Greenland, after the president said this week: "We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security."
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Az.) introduced an amendment to Congress' annual defense spending bill today to prohibit the use of funds for military force or other hostilities toward Greenland.
The bottom line: "The danger in Venezuela is only beginning," Schumer said on the Senate floor.
"Donald Trump has opened a Pandora's box and things will get out of hand very quickly."
