Trump to meet with House Republicans amid questions about Venezuela : NPR

President Trump walks on the South Lawn after landing at the White House on Sunday. Trump returned to Washington from his winter vacation at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, a day after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a raid on his resort in Caracas.

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President Trump is scheduled to meet with House Republicans at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, as lawmakers from both chambers seek more details about the weekend operation in Venezuela and the future role of the United States there.

The rally in Washington, D.C., comes a day after senior administration officials briefed leaders on Capitol Hill for several hours behind closed doors, leaving room for a largely partisan division over the military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Monday’s briefing was the first opportunity for top party leaders, as well as members of key congressional committees, to question administration officials on an assignment for which they had no advance notice.

After the briefing, Republicans said the president was fully capable of ordering the mission without input from Congress.

“We are not at war. We do not have U.S. armed forces in Venezuela and we are not occupying that country,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said after the press briefing. “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.”

Monday’s briefing was led by key members of the president’s foreign policy team, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.

It was attended by the Gang of Eight, comprised of House and Senate leaders from both parties as well as top Republicans and Democrats serving on each chamber’s intelligence committees. Joining them were bipartisan leaders from the Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees.

Tuesday’s rally at the Kennedy Center will be an opportunity for Trump to address members of his party as they prepare to fight to maintain control of the House in the midterm elections. In the past, his speeches at these rallies have focused on broader topics and the gathering as a party.

President Johnson said the administration has scheduled a separate briefing on Venezuela for all members of Congress on Wednesday, during which more details are expected to be shared on next steps in the region.

Partisan divide persists over Trump’s handling of Venezuela

After the meeting, Johnson told reporters that the Venezuela operation was not “regime change” but rather “a demand for behavioral change from a regime.” And while Trump said over the weekend that the United States would lead Venezuela until a “proper transition can take place,” Johnson told reporters, “we do not expect troops to be on the ground” or direct involvement in Venezuela “in any other way” beyond forcing reforms from the interim government currently in place.

Other lawmakers who left the meeting said they were not yet clear on whether the United States would become more involved in Venezuela.

Republicans’ solidarity with the president and his top officials shows that Trump continues to enjoy fierce loyalty from the vast majority of his party in Congress. However, Democrats said the operation illustrated a dangerous expansion of Trump’s executive powers and risked plunging the United States into the same type of ongoing conflict that Trump tried to avoid during his campaign.

“It seems like at every turn Donald Trump is trying to figure out how he is avoiding Congress,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. “And unfortunately, Congress is allowing him to do that.”

Meeks, ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed a concern that Democrats have raised throughout the last year: Congress is abdicating its constitutional authority in deference to the White House.

Johnson responded to this criticism.

“Look, I can tell you, as the Speaker of the House, as the person charged with defending the Article I powers, I’m just going to emphasize to you that those have in no way been transgressed by what’s happened here,” he told reporters.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned of problems that could lie ahead, arguing that the briefing left more questions than answers.

“Their plan for the United States to rule Venezuela is vague, based on wishful thinking and unsatisfactory,” Schumer said. “I received no assurance that we would not try to do the same thing in other countries.”

It was the first in a series of other briefings for lawmakers on events in Venezuela and next steps.