Classified Maduro briefing splits lawmakers

The Trump administration on Monday briefed congressional leaders on the U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, sharpening a partisan divide over the president’s authority to use force without congressional approval.

Top Republicans who attended the classified briefing rallied to the president’s defense while Democrats questioned the scope of the operation and pushed to halt further military action.

The partisan split-screen among the lawmakers briefed, who are part of the so-called “Gang of Eight” group authorized to receive highly classified information, underscores the difficulty Congress may face in trying to rein in President Donald Trump‘s military efforts. 

U.S. President Donald Trump has, in recent days, said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela, threatened Colombia and Cuba and renewed his push to acquire Greenland. Those remarks followed a weekend military strike that captured Maduro from Caracas and whisked him to the U.S. to face criminal charges without prior congressional authorization. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the raid in Venezuela “a decisive and justified action,” rejecting claims that Trump exceeded his authority.

“We are not at war, we do not have U.S. armed forces in Venezuela and we are not occupying that country,” Johnson said. 

“The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war; that is true. But it also vests the president of the United States with vast authorities as commander-in-chief,” Johnson said. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., meanwhile, said that the briefing raised far more questions than it answered.

“The plan for the U.S. running Venezuela is vague, based on wishful thinking and unsatisfying,” Schumer said. “I did not receive any assurances that we would not try to do the same thing in other countries.”

Senate Democrats plan to force a vote later this week on a measure to suspend Trump’s military action in Venezuela, known as a war powers resolution. The measure, brought by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., would require Trump to cease military action in Venezuela unless Congress approves it. 

Kaine introduced a similar resolution in November, which the Senate rejected after only two Republicans — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky — supported it. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, so at least four Republicans would need to break ranks for Kaine’s measure to succeed. 

The House of Representatives would also need to approve the measure. Lawmakers there narrowly defeated a Venezuela war powers resolution 211-213 in December. 

“There’s real concern as it relates to congressional action connected to our sole power to declare war,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., before the briefing….