California lawmakers briefed on U.S. military action in Iran - Spectrum News

With the war in the Persian Gulf intensifying, members of the Trump administration headed to Capitol Hill Tuesday to brief lawmakers on the U.S. attack on Iran.

“The bottom line is this — the president determined we were not going to get hit first. It's that simple, guys. We are not going to put American troops in harm's way,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “If you tell the President of the United States that if we don't go first, we're going to have more people killed and more people injured, the president is going to go first. That's what he did.”

But Democrats told Spectrum News after the briefing they didn’t see evidence of an imminent threat to the U.S. as Rubio suggested.

“It was basically the same old B.S. we've heard from the administration, that everything was perfect, this war is going well, that the Iranians were negotiating in bad faith,” Rep. Dave Min, D-Calif., said. “All I know is we were not advised on any of this. I do believe this was an illegal abuse of war powers, and from what I am seeing, it’s not going well.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., pointed out the mixed messaging from the administration itself.

“The secretary said, ‘We had to go in because Israel was going in. We had to go in next,'" the President said. "‘No, that wasn't the thing.’ So we're hearing different things, and that's most unfortunate. But I can't go into anything that was said there [in the classified briefing], except to say it wasn't enough to say what was the purpose of this.”

Asked if lawmakers were informed of an exit strategy, Pelosi quipped, “Do you think the administration knows?”

“We haven’t heard anything about that,” she said, adding that U.S. military action in Iraq led to destabilization in the region that has lasted “to this day.”

“That's why we're dealing with Iran right now,” Pelosi explained.

Republicans for the most part — including those from California — have remained in lockstep with the administration.

“I think that when we have the opportunity to significantly reduce the threat faced by the United States and our allies — that's the moment we're in right now,” Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., said. “The events here have the potential to give us a safer America and a more peaceful world.”

While both Democrats and Republicans agree that Iran cannot possess a nuclear weapon, the parties are split on the president’s approach.

This week, both the House and Senate are expected to vote on war powers resolutions to reassert congressional authority over declaring war.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., criticized lawmakers for attempting to move the measures as the conflict intensifies.

“The idea that a few colleagues here would try to move a war powers motion and resolution to the floor right now is dangerous,” suggested Johnson following Tuesday’s briefing. “The idea that there are some members of this legislative body that would play along with that plays right into the hands of the enemy. And I think it's shameful.”

Johnson said he believes he has the votes to defeat the war powers resolution in the House, but Democrats are still pushing to rally support.