WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will meet with House Republicans in a closed-door meeting at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday morning where the commander in chief will face questions about strikes he authorized against Venezuela over the weekend and the capture of the country’s president.
House Republicans will gather for a policy and strategy forum for an event that is expected to last through much of the day, according to a lawmaker familiar with the plans. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sent an email to members Saturday afternoon confirming Trump would be in attendance to “kick off the event.”
“In the meantime, we are remaining in constant communication with the President and his administration regarding the developments this morning in Venezuela,” Johnson wrote, according to the email obtained by the Deseret News. “Secretary Rubio and Secretary Hegseth have been very helpful and will keep us apprised of new information as it becomes available, and the White House is working now to schedule full briefings for Members as Congress returns.”
The meeting comes amid mixed reactions to the attacks in Venezuela early Saturday morning, during which the United States apprehended President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and transported them to New York. Attorney General Pam Bondi says the two have been indicted on several charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the U.S.
At a press conference Saturday morning, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the attacks a “law enforcement” action.
“This was not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on,” Rubio said. “It was a trigger-based mission in which conditions had to be met night after night. We watched and monitored that for a number of days.”
He added, “It’s largely a law enforcement function. Remember, at the end of day, at its core, this was an arrest of two indicted fugitives of American justice, and the Department of War supported the Department of Justice in that job.”
Top Republican leaders praised Trump’s decision to act against Venezuela as a “justified operation that will protect American lives.”
“Nicolas Maduro is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans after years of trafficking illegal drugs and violent cartel members into our country — crimes for which he’s been properly indicted in U.S. courts and an arrest warrant duly issued — and today he learned what accountability looks like,” Johnson said in a statement. “President Trump is putting American lives first, succeeding where others have failed, and under his leadership the United States will no longer allow criminal regimes to profit from wreaking havoc and destruction on our country.”
The news was met with initial skepticism from some lawmakers, who noted an act of war requires congressional approval before it can be carried out.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, first reacted with a desire to learn more about what “might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force.”
Lee later said in a post on X that he had spoken to Rubio, who informed him Maduro was apprehended to face trial in the U.S. based on criminal charges. That explanation, Lee said, “likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack.”
Utah Rep. Mike Kennedy similarly responded in a post on social media that he is ”closely monitoring” the situation and “await(s) President Trump’s further clarity regarding the scope and strategic intent of these actions.”
Trump held a press briefing on Saturday afternoon to confirm the strikes, telling reporters the U.S. will “run the country” of Venezuela until further notice. The president gave few details about what that operational control would look like, but said he would tap into Venezuela’s oil reserves and begin selling it to other countries.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” Trump said.
Those plans were met with criticism from some members of Trump’s own party, particularly those who have been vocal about not getting involved in foreign conflicts.
“Americans’ disgust with our own government’s never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it and both parties, Republicans and Democrats, always keep the Washington military machine funded and going,” Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, who has had a public break with Trump in recent weeks, said in a post on X.
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who has also become a vocal critic of Trump within the Republican Party, went further to question the legality of the strikes without congressional approval — and whether the president had justification to do so anyway.
“(Bondi) and others legally characterize (the) attack in Venezuela as ‘arrest with military support,’” Massie wrote in a post on X. “Meanwhile Trump announces he’s taken over the country and will run it until he finds someone suitable to replace him.”
“Added bonus: says American oil companies will get to exploit the oil,” he added.
Democratic leaders were quick to denounce the attacks on Saturday, accusing Trump of lying to lawmakers when he previously said he would not seek regime change in Venezuela or take military action on the ground. The U.S. conducted its first land strikes in the country earlier this week.
Democrats also say there are several questions left unanswered, such as details on how many U.S. troops are currently, and will later be, on the ground in Venezuela; what a “judicious transition” means; and whether the attack was partially motivated by the desire to seize foreign oil.
“The idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price.”
Both Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries released a joint statement on Saturday demanding the Trump administration meet with the Gang of Eight — a bipartisan group of senior lawmakers who are briefed on the most sensitive national security and intelligence matters — as well as briefings with the full House and Senate next week.
