Classified Maduro briefing splits lawmakers

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

While senior Republicans who attended the classified briefing joined the president’s defense, Democrats questioned the scope of the operation and pressed for a halt to further military action.

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

US President Donald Trump has said in recent days that the US will “manage” Venezuela, threatened Colombia and Cuba and renewed his effort to buy Greenland. The remarks followed a weekend military offensive in which Maduro was kidnapped from Caracas and sent to the United States to face criminal charges without prior congressional authorization.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dismissed suggestions that Trump overstepped his authority, calling the raid in Venezuela a “decisive and justified action.”

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

“The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war; that’s true. But it also gives the president of the United States broad powers as commander in chief,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DY) said the briefing raises many more questions than it answers.

“The United States’ plan to govern Venezuela is vague, wishful thinking, and unsatisfactory,” Schumer said. “I haven’t received any assurances that we won’t try to do the same thing in other countries.”

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

Kaine introduced a similar resolution in November; The Senate rejected it 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 will also need to approve the measure. Lawmakers there narrowly defeated resolution 211-213 on Venezuela’s war authority in December.

“There are real concerns about congressional action associated with our sole power to declare war,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-Y., said before the briefing. “No other military action should be taken in Venezuela or anywhere else without express congressional approval, and we need to legislate that.”

Lawmakers were briefed by senior members of the president’s cabinet, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Because Maduro has outstanding warrants for his arrest in the United States, the administration has sought to frame the use of the military in Venezuela as a law enforcement action.

Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who was at the briefing, echoed that view.

“This was a law enforcement operation,” Mast said. “This law enforcement operation required great military capabilities… because the person who needed to be brought to justice could mobilize an air force, a navy or an army.”

Mast said Trump is not seeking a long-term military engagement, but did not rule out similar operations if the president deems them necessary to “defend the homeland.”

But bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over U.S. law enforcement, were not invited to the briefing. They are not traditionally part of the “Gang of Eight” but have issued a joint statement condemning the snub.

“President Trump and Secretary Rubio stated that this was a law enforcement operation conducted at the request of the Department of Justice (DOJ) with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),” the statement from Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said.

“The Administration’s refusal to recognize our Committee’s undisputed jurisdiction in this matter is unacceptable, and we are pursuing the matter to ensure that the Committee receives assured information regarding Maduro’s detention,” they said.

CNBC’s Emily Wilkins contributed to this report.