Maduro is being held in a New York prison as the Trump administration plans Venezuela’s future

Senior Trump administration officials briefed key members of Congress on the Venezuela operation on Monday, and lawmakers’ reactions fell along familiar partisan lines.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that the classified briefing, attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, “asked a lot more questions than it ever answered.”

“Their plan for the United States to rule Venezuela is vague, based on wishful thinking and unsatisfactory,” the New York Democrat said, adding that it was unclear whether similar operations would be attempted in other countries.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the operation was a “decisive and justified action,” adding that Maduro was leading a “criminal organization masquerading as a government.”

“Now he has learned what accountability looks like,” the Louisiana Republican added.

Some Democrats argued the operation was not legal because it lacked congressional approval. Schumer said he will push for a vote to block further military action in Venezuela. And Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters: “It seems like at every turn Donald Trump is trying to figure out how he’s avoiding Congress.”

Republicans have largely defended the president. Johnson argued that the administration acted within its authority because “we are not at war” and “we are not occupying this country.”

Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters he did not believe the operation required congressional approval, saying it was limited in scope and “done before breakfast.”