In the days before U.S. strikes on Iran began, Marco Rubio quietly worked to prepare congressional leadership for the operation, according to a State Department official who spoke with the Daily Caller.
Donald Trump announced early Saturday morning that the United States had launched strikes on Iran to eliminate what he described as “imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
Ahead of that announcement, Rubio briefed the so-called “Gang of Eight” — the bipartisan group of top congressional intelligence leaders — during a one-hour session on Tuesday. He was able to reach seven of the eight members, with one unavailable at the time, the official said.
After the strikes began, the Department of Defense also notified the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. Rubio is currently at Mar-a-Lago with the president, the official added.
Reactions from lawmakers were mixed.
Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, criticized the operation, calling it a “war of choice with no strategic endgame.”
“As I expressed to Secretary Rubio when he briefed the Gang of Eight, military action in the region almost never ends well for the United States, and conflict with Iran can easily spiral and escalate in ways we cannot anticipate,” Himes said.
Other lawmakers were more supportive, emphasizing deterrence and military strength.
“We’ve got a lot of assets over there, a lot of aircraft over there, and we’re going to make sure the Iranian regime knows we mean business,” Rep. Joe Wilson told the Daily Caller. He pointed to previous U.S. operations such as “Midnight Hammer” as examples of American capability and warned Tehran that refusing to deal with Trump would be unwise.
Wilson also stressed that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains a firm red line for the administration, adding that the Department of Defense fully supports that goal.
Meanwhile, the State Department confirmed it has established a special task force to assist American citizens in the Middle East and to support ongoing diplomatic efforts amid the rapidly escalating conflict.
