Top Trump administration officials will brief both chambers of Congress on Tuesday regarding ongoing U.S. strikes on Iran, amid widespread Democratic opposition to the operation and broad Republican support.
Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson told The Hill that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Gen. Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will brief all members of the House and Senate on Tuesday.
Johnson added that the Pentagon on Sunday briefed the bipartisan staffs of “several national security committees in both chambers” for over 90 minutes on the strikes in Iran. The U.S. and Israel began attacks on the Middle Eastern nation early Saturday, with the strikes resulting in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Rubio and Ratcliffe will also brief the so-called Gang of Eight on Monday, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote Saturday on the social platform X that the group was “briefed in detail earlier this week that military action may become necessary to protect American troops and American citizens in Iran.”
In addition to Johnson, the Gang of Eight includes Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and ranking member Mark Warner (D-Va.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chair Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) and ranking member Jim Himes (D-Ct.).
The administration also invited Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.), along with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair James Risch (R-Id.) and ranking member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to Monday’s briefing, the source added.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have largely slammed President Trump for bypassing Congress and engaging in yet another war in the Middle East, with many citing past failures in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees who is co-sponsoring a war powers resolution to halt U.S. action in Iran without congressional approval, called the war “tragic” in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published Sunday.
“The American people don’t want to be dragged into another forever war under false pretenses,” Kaine wrote. “That’s why I’ll insist that all senators vote on my bipartisan resolution to stop U.S. hostilities against Iran as soon as possible.”
But a majority of Republicans have hailed the strikes and the killing of Khamenei. Johnson said Saturday that Iran “is facing the severe consequences of its evil actions” and the country and its proxies “have menaced America and American lives, undermined our core national interests, systematically destabilized the Middle East, and threatened the security of the entire West.”
Trump, meanwhile, told the Daily Mail on Sunday that the U.S. operation in Iran will take roughly four weeks.
U.S. Central Command said earlier in the day that as of 9:30 a.m. EST, three U.S. service members have been killed in action, while five were injured and “several” others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions. The president also acknowledged Sunday that there will “likely” be more American service members who die in the operation.
