Congress is scrambling to learn more about President Donald Trump’s overnight strikes on Iran — and his long-term strategy for the Middle East — as votes to restrain further military action loom next week.
Trump administration officials will brief staff on key House committees Sunday, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose the plans, with the Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Affairs panels expected to take part. Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff will also be briefed this weekend, first by the State Department on Saturday and then the Pentagon Sunday, according to a GOP aide.
While nothing has been formally scheduled yet, efforts are underway to set up all-member briefings for the House and Senate next week, according to three other people granted anonymity.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune signaled in a statement Saturday that he expects the Trump administration to come to the Hill to discuss Trump’s actions.
“I look forward to administration officials briefing all senators about these military operations,” Thune said.
Democrats want the administration to go further. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that in addition to a classified briefing for all senators, members of the administration need to testify publicly before congressional committees.
“The administration has not provided Congress and the American people with critical details about the scope and immediacy of the threat,” Schumer added.
In advance of the attacks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed most members of the Gang of Eight, which includes the top leaders of each chamber and the heads of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Saturday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was the sole Gang of Eight member who Rubio wasn’t able to reach before the strikes, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
The scramble to brief a broader swath of lawmakers comes as bipartisan coalitions in the House and Senate move to force votes next week on measures that would limit Trump’s ability to take additional military action against Iran without Congress’s sign-off.
Despite calls from Democrats quickly reconvene both chambers and debate the war powers measures, Speaker Mike Johnson and Thune have no plans to do so. The Senate’s vote is expected to be as soon as Tuesday, while the House is looking at Wednesday or Thursday.
Democrats are moving to meet among themselves sooner. Members on the Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a call Saturday, with the full House Democratic Caucus gathering for a call on Sunday. The meetings were described by people granted anonymity to disclose the private events.
Frequent Trump-basher Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who is co-leading the effort in the House to force a war powers vote, characterized the strikes on social media as “acts of war unauthorized by Congress.”
Otherwise, reaction to the strikes mostly broke down on party lines. One of the first Democrats to respond to the strikes, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), condemned the attack on social media, writing that “we can support the democracy movement and the Iranian people without sending our troops to die.”
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Senate Intelligence Committee Democrat, added Saturday that Trump’s overnight military strikes targeting top Iranian leaders represent “a deeply consequential decision that risks pulling the United States into another broad conflict in the Middle East.”
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called Trump’s military action “a war of choice with no strategic endgame” and said that he will vote for the war powers resolution when it gets a vote next week.
In a Saturday morning video announcing the strike, Trump warned “the lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war, but we’re doing this for the future.” No U.S. casualties were reported in the immediate aftermath of the strikes.
Congressional Republicans, including members of leadership and top committee chairs, quickly backed the joint U.S.-Israel operation. House Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford said Trump had “given Iran plenty of opportunities to take the diplomatic route.” Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Senate Republican, called the action “peace through strength.”
The strikes are now figuring into an unrelated partisan standoff over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which has been in a partial shutdown since Feb. 14.
Some Republicans quickly seized on the military action to pressure Democrats to reopen the department, noting that counterterrorism efforts fall under its broad mandate.
“It is more important now than ever that we fully fund the Department of Homeland Security,” House Homeland Security Committee Chair Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) posted on X. “We cannot afford delays. We must ensure DHS is operating at maximum readiness to prevent and respond to threats against our homeland.”
Longtime Iran hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) rejoiced at the joint U.S.-Israel operation, calling it “necessary and long justified.”
“The end of the largest state sponsor of terrorism is upon us,” Graham wrote on social media. “Freedom for the long suffering Iranian people.”
The South Carolina senator has repeatedly encouraged military action against Iran, urging Trump to follow through on his January promise to respond with force after the Iranian regime killed thousands of its own citizens during a mass wave of protests.
Crossing the aisle, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) joined Graham in cheering on the operation. “President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region,” Fetterman wrote on social media.
Eric Bazail-Eimil contributed to this report.