House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to the media ahead of a secure briefing about U.S. action in Venezuela, on Capitol Hill in Washington,, D.C., U.S., Jan. 5, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
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. “No further military action should be taken in Venezuela or anywhere else without explicit congressional approval, and we need to legislate that.”
The lawmakers were briefed by top members of the president’s cabinet, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The administration has labored to frame the use of the military in Venezuela as a law enforcement action, since Maduro had outstanding warrants for his arrest in the United States.
Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla, the Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, who was in the briefing, echoed that view.
“This was a law enforcement operation,” Mast said. “This law enforcement operation required great military capabilities … because the individual that had to be brought to justice could bring to bear an air force, a navy, an army.”
Mast said Trump was not seeking a protracted military engagement, but did not rule out similar operations if the president deems them necessary to “defend the homeland.”
The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, however, who have jurisdiction over the U.S. law enforcement apparatus, were not invited to the briefing. They are not traditionally part of the “Gang of Eight,” but issued a joint statement excoriating the snub.
“President Trump and Secretary Rubio have stated that this was a law enforcement operation that was made at the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) request, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),” the statement from Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., read.
“The administration’s refusal to acknowledge our Committee’s indisputable jurisdiction in this matter is unacceptable and we are following up to ensure the Committee receives warranted information regarding Maduro’s arrest,” they said.
CNBC’s Emily Wilkins contributed to this report.