‘Say that’s what it is’: Dems demand answers on Trump's Venezuela regime change push
WASHINGTON — Turns out, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth aren’t very good actors.
Congress doesn’t agree on much, but when it comes to Venezuela and U.S. military strikes on purported drug smugglers, on Tuesday Congress was basically all questions, even after receiving classified briefings from the two members of the Trump cabinet.
Only after President Donald Trump took to Truth Social in the evening, to announce "a total and complete" blockade of oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, did Congress finally get the clarity lawmakers had demanded.
Now members of Congress say they know the real goal of U.S. intervention in Venezuela — and lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol are vowing to hold President Trump accountable.
‘More questions than answers’
Rubio and Hegseth, along with a phalanx of aides and security, traversed the U.S. Capitol, trying to sell Congress on President Trump’s war footing in the waters off Venezuela.
“This briefing left me with more questions than answers,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told reporters after a classified briefing.
It was the same on the other side of the Capitol, where lawmakers complained the two powerful secretaries provided “no real answers about whether or not what we’re about to enter into is a war in Venezuela,” Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters after his own chamber’s briefing.
“If this is about regime change, it seems to me that the administration should say that’s what it is, and should come to Congress to ask for that authorization, which has not taken place.”
It wasn’t just Democrats who were left confused as to what the Trump administration is trying to accomplish with regards to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“Most Americans want to know what’s gonna happen next. I want to know what’s gonna happen next. Is it the policy to take Maduro down? It should be,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters.
“If it’s not, and if he goes, what’s gonna happen next? I’d like a better answer as to what happens when Maduro goes.”
For his part, Secretary Rubio told the congressional press corps the briefings were on the “counter-drug mission” that is “killing Americans, poisoning Americans.”
For his part, Secretary Hegseth tried to tamp down criticism as he promised to let members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees view a controversial video of a second missile strike on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea, on Sept. 2.
“This is the 22nd bipartisan briefing on a highly successful mission to counter designated terrorist organizations, cartels, bringing weapons — weapons meaning drugs — to the American people and poisoning the American people for far too long,” Hegseth told reporters.
But last night, when President Trump announced a blockade of Venezuelan oil — arguing the South American nation is “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America” — lawmakers got the clarity they’d been seeking.
And many weren’t happy.
‘Unquestionably an act of war’
While Congress is demanding answers to more questions, many members also feel lied to, if not duped.
“Trump is threatening a naval blockade of Venezuelan oil, an act of War,” Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) wrote on X.
“We have seen this playbook before. This is not about drugs or making America safer; it’s about regime change.
“Americans do not want war with Venezuela. Congress must act now and stop this.”
While the administration likened targeting alleged drug smugglers to going after pirates of old — thus evoking all the lenient maritime laws regarding marauders on the high seas — Democrats say the gig is up.
They’re demanding the administration halt intervention unless Congress explicitly grants the president war powers.
“A naval blockade is unquestionably an act of war,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) wrote. “A war that the Congress never authorized and the American people do not want.
“On Thursday, the House will vote on Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), and my resolution directing the President to end hostilities with Venezuela.
“Every member of the House of Representatives will have the opportunity to decide if they support sending Americans into yet another regime change war.”
FILE PHOTO: A view of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, U.S. June 29, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo
A college student wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap looks on at a Turning Point USA event, held at University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida on Nov. 13. REUTERS/Octavio Jones
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) speaks on Capitol Hill. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein