Democrats on Capitol Hill are hammering the Trump administration after it postponed a pair of meetings to brief Congress on U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend.
The Democrats were already up in arms that Trump had declined to inform them that the Saturday attacks were coming, even as the administration had briefed top Republicans and Israeli leaders.
The decision to postpone the briefings to House and Senate lawmakers, which were scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in the Capitol, has only fueled that indignation. And Democratic leaders staged two press conferences on Tuesday afternoon to air their frustrations.
“The American people deserve to know the facts and the truth as it related to the decision to strike Iran without securing congressional approval,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters.
“What are they running away from? Why was this briefing — which was already days late — postponed?” he continued. “Why is the Trump administration playing political games on questions of war and peace that relate directly to the safety and security of the American people?”
Jeffries said he spoke Saturday with “multiple” officials in the White House. But he characterized the conversations as “courtesy calls” — not the detailed briefing and threat assessment that he and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said they were expecting. Even the “Gang of Eight” — a bipartisan group composed of top leaders and the heads of the Intelligence committees in each chamber — has not yet been briefed.
“This is inexplicable,” Jeffries said. “If the Trump administration actually believes that their actions were justified, what are they running away from?”
Schumer also expressed anger Tuesday about the delayed briefings, saying lawmakers deserved answers.
“This last-minute postponement of our briefing is outrageous, it’s evasive, it’s derelict. They’re bobbing and weaving and ducking. Senators deserve full transparency. There is a legal obligation for the administration to inform Congress about precisely what is happening,” he told reporters at a press conference in the Capitol.
“What are they afraid of? Why won’t they engage Congress in the critical details?” he asked.
The top House Democrats on the committees with jurisdiction over military and national security matters also blasted the postponement. Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y. ), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Jim Himes (Conn.), the senior Democrat on the Intelligence Committee; and Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the Armed Services panel, said the decision to keep Congress in the dark is “unacceptable.”
“We can only speculate as to why the Administration canceled the briefing, but it certainly appears as though they’re afraid to answer questions about their policies and the President’s unverified claims that the strikes obliterated Iran’s nuclear program,” the three lawmakers said in a joint statement.
The closed-door meetings with top administration officials had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in a secure space in the Capitol Visitor Center. The House was to gather at 3 p.m. and the Senate at 4 p.m. But just hours beforehand, the administration scrapped that plan without explanation. The White House has not commented on the reasons.
Later in the day, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced that the House meeting has been pushed to Friday, while the Senate briefing will reportedly take place a day earlier.
“Senior Administration officials will present the latest information pertaining to the situation involving Israel and Iran,” Johnson posted on the social platform X. “Details to follow.”
The rescheduling has done little to appease the Democrats, who want to see evidence to back Trump’s assertions that the strikes were necessary and that they “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities — a claim that was thrown into doubt after CNN reported that the early assessments from U.S. intelligence officials suggest the strikes did far less damage.
“I find it incredibly frustrating and difficult that we can’t get the answers to our questions,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said after the postponement. “Are our service members in harm’s way? Was this a successful mission? Where is the enriched uranium?”
“These are all fairly straightforward questions, and Congress deserves answers.”
