Trump officials will give their first classified briefing to Congress on the Iran strikes

WASHINGTON AP Senators are set to meet with top national assurance officers Thursday as chosen lawmakers question President Donald Trump s decision to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites and whether those strikes were ultimately effective The classified briefing originally scheduled for Tuesday also comes as the Senate is expected to vote this week on a resolution that would require congressional approval if Trump were to order another strike on Iran Democrats and chosen Republicans have revealed the White House overstepped its authority when it failed to seek the advice of Congress They also want to know more about the intelligence that Trump relied on when he authorized the attacks Senators deserve full transparency and the administration has a legal obligation to inform Congress precisely about what is happening noted Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York who declared Tuesday that it was outrageous that the Senate and House briefings were postponed A similar briefing for House members was pushed to Friday CIA Director John Ratcliffe Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are expected to brief the senators Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard who was scheduled to be at the Tuesday briefing is not expected to attend A preliminary U S intelligence account located that Iran s nuclear plan had been set back only a meager months contradicting statements from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the status of Iran s nuclear facilities according to two people familiar with the analysis They were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity You want to call it destroyed you want to call it defeated you want to call it obliterated choose your word This was an historically effective attack Hegseth declared at a Pentagon briefing Thursday On Wednesday Gabbard and Ratcliffe sent out statements backing Trump s contends that the facilities were fully and fully obliterated Gabbard posted on social media that new intelligence confirms what POTUS has stated numerous times Iran s nuclear facilities have been destroyed She explained that if the Iranians choose to rebuild the three facilities it would likely take years to do Ratcliffe commented in a declaration from the CIA that Iran s nuclear activity has been severely damaged He cited new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the unit of years Bulk Republicans have defended Trump and hailed the tentative ceasefire he brokered in the Israel-Iran war House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La went as far as to question the constitutionality of the War Powers Act which is intended to give Congress a say in military action The bottom line is the commander in chief is the president the military reports to the president and the person empowered to act on the nation s behalf is the president Johnson explained reporters But selected Republicans including chosen of Trump s staunchest supporters are uncomfortable with the strikes and the feasible for U S involvement in an extended Middle East conflict I think the speaker requirements to review the Constitution explained Sen Rand Paul R-Ky And I think there s a lot of evidence that our Founding Fathers did not want presidents to unilaterally go to war Paul would not say whether he would vote for the resolution by Sen Tim Kaine D-Va that would require congressional approval for specific military action in Iran A simple majority in the Senate is needed to pass the resolution and Republicans hold a - advantage I will have Republican votes plural Kaine reported But whether it s two or I don t know Kaine authored a similar resolution in aimed at limiting Trump s authority to launch military operations against Iran At the time eight Republicans joined Democrats in approving the resolution I think I have a chance to get a few votes from people who are glad that President Trump did this over the weekend but they re saying Ok but now if we re really going to go to war it should only have to go through the Congress Kaine described The Associated Press before the briefing While Trump did not seek approval he sent congressional leaders a short letter Monday serving as his official notice of the strikes which occurred Saturday between p m and p m EDT or roughly a m on Sunday in Iran The letter mentioned the strike was taken to advance vital United States national interests and in collective self-defense of our ally Israel by eliminating Iran s nuclear initiative This story has been corrected to reflect that the military action resolution sponsored by Sen Tim Kaine D-Va requires a simple majority of the Senate not votes Source