Congress

‘Don’t expect troops on the ground,’ Johnson says after Venezuela briefing

Published

6 months ago

January 6, 2026

U.S. troops will have a limited role in Venezuela, Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday, after top deputies to President Donald Trump briefed senior congressional leaders on the weekend operation that removed leader Nicolas Maduro from power.

“We don’t expect troops on the ground,” Johnson told reporters after the two-hour evening briefing on Capitol Hill. “We don’t expect direct involvement in any other way beyond just coercing the … the interim government to get that going. I expect that there will be an election called in Venezuela. … It should happen in short order.”

The closed-door session was the first time top Trump administration officials briefed a group of lawmakers in person since the surprise Saturday morning raid that resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife. Both pleaded not guilty Monday to drug trafficking and other charges in a federal courtroom in Manhattan.

Hours later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine met with top party leaders, as well as the bipartisan leaders of the Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Intelligence committees.

So far, the response to the administration’s actions in Venezuela has largely split along party lines. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters after the meeting that the briefing was “extensive” but it raised “far more questions than it answered.”

“Their plan for the U.S. running Venezuela is vague … based on wishful thinking and unsatisfying,” Schumer said.

Schumer added that he asked for “assurances that we would not try to do the same thing in other countries” but didn’t receive any.

Johnson, meanwhile, sought to play down the broader implications of the military raid — and tamp down criticism that Trump and his deputies reneged on pledges not to pursue regime change in Venezuela.

“The way this is being described — this is not a regime change,” Johnson said. “This is a demand for change of behavior by a regime.”

The administration will brief all House members Wednesday, Johnson added. The Senate is also expected to get a briefing for all of its members that day, though that hasn’t been finalized.

In addition to the operation over the weekend, administration officials and lawmakers in the room discussed explosions in Caracas that reportedly took place as the briefing unfolded, according to two people with knowledge of the briefing.

A White House official granted anonymity to comment on the developing situation said the administration is closely tracking the reports of gunfire in Venezuela and that the U.S. is not involved.

House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.), asked about the explosions, said in an interview that the briefers discussed everything “before, during and after” the U.S. operation. He later added, “I think it would be unreasonable to think there aren’t disruptors there,” referencing the governments of Iran, China and Russia.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she had some of her questions answered but added that “there are a significant number of questions that still need to be answered.”

Asked if she believed that the Trump administration is considering similar actions in other countries, she said, “I don’t think that’s clear.”

The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), voiced concerns about the Trump administration’s plans for Venezuela following Maduro’s ouster.

“The military did its job. It had a plan,” Meeks told reporters. “I don’t like the orders that they were given. But I can’t say the same for the plan after.”

But Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said “we have a lot of professionals running this, and I have confidence.”

Some Republicans said they want more clarity from the administration on its ultimate endgame.

“I’ve got to see what strategy there is,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who did not attend the briefing. “What the president was trying to communicate is hopefully facilitating a peaceful transition of power. We’ll have to wait and see. I don’t know how you do that without boots on the ground. And I don’t support boots on the ground.”

Other lawmakers grumbled not about the overall strategy but about the administration’s decision to brief lawmakers piecemeal instead of all at once. The Republican chair and ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the DOJ and FBI, jointly fumed about being cut out of the initial briefing despite administration officials describing Maduro’s capture as a law enforcement operation.

“This business of coming over and just talking to some of us, I think is a special kind of stupid,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said in an interview Monday. “They need to sit down with every member of the Senate and explain what’s going on.”

Calen Razor and Daniella Cheslow contributed to this report.

Congress

Johnson says he will send housing bill to Trump on Monday

Published

11 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Speaker Mike Johsnon said he plans to send President Donald Trump a bipartisan housing bill Monday, just days after the president abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for the legislation after Congress failed to pass his elections security act.

Speaking with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Johnson said the 21st Century ROAD To Housing Act is a Republican priority for lowering costs for Americans.

“I’m going to send the bill over to him on Monday, and it will become law,” the Louisiana Republican told host Maria Bartiromo. “I certainly want him to take the biggest, boldest marker that he has and do that big Trump signature proudly on that legislation because we’re delivering for the people, and that’s what he wants to do.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnson’s remarks.

The bill is the product of almost a year of back-and-forth between all four congressional corners and aims to increase affordability by boosting housing supply and home ownership. It passed both chambers of Congress with wide bipartisan support.

Trump was scheduled to sign the bill into law last week but canceled the ceremony “until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.”

Trump’s SAVE America Act would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end mail-in voting. Trump has also said he would like the bill to include prohibitions on transgender athletes competing. But Republican leaders have repeatedly indicated the legislation does not have enough votes to pass.

Congressional leaders appeared taken aback by Trump’s signing cancellation, but Johnson on Sunday said he and the president have since met in the Oval Office to discuss the housing bill “in great detail.”

“We made a lot of promises to the voters, and we’re fulfilling those every single day of this Congress,” Johnson said. “This is a big part of that because this will increase the availability, the access to more housing, bring down cost, cut regulations, do the things we know are very important for that market. The president and I talked about that at length. Of course he wants to do those things.”

But if Trump does not sign the housing bill into law within the next few days, it would still become law unless he were to veto it. Congress also has the power to override a presidential veto.

Congress

Sen. Thom Tillis rails against Trump’s fixation on voting legislation

Published

11 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Thom Tillis on Sunday expressed frustration with President Donald Trump’s continued fixation on passing the SAVE America Act.

In an interview with BLN’s “Face the Nation,” the retiring North Carolina Republican lamented “the impossible task” of implementing the requirements of the legislation ahead of November’s crucial midterms.

“Why are we doing more things to undermine our confidence in elections, rather than getting the strong message out that will win for Republicans this year?” Tillis said.

Rather than promoting the bill — which would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end widespread mail-in voting — Tillis said Republicans should tell voters about “the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America” while accepting the current voting laws.

“Win by the good results that Republicans have produced and stop undermining the confidence in the elections,” said Tillis. “This is a bedrock of our 250-year history of success as the democracy that changed the world. Let’s not mess with that between now and November.”

Trump has said the SAVE America Act is his “No. 1 priority” ahead of midterms, going so far as to abruptly cancel a bill signing for major bipartisan legislation on housing affordability until Congress passes his elections bill. But many Democrats are staunchly against the bill, arguing it could disenfranchise millions of voters, and Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly indicated it does not have the votes to pass.

Tillis co-sponsored the original SAVE America Act but has objected to Trump’s version of the legislation, which would also bar transgender athletes from women’s sports.

It’s not the first time Tillis has clashed with Trump.

Earlier this year, Tillis blocked Trump’s Fed chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, until the Justice Department dropped an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He has also spoken out against the Justice Department’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” calling it a “payout for punks.” And he has emerged as a fierce critic of Bill Pulte, Trump’s interim director of national intelligence.

“Let’s try and figure out a way to completely and finally end these distractions so that we can focus on the damage Democrats could do if they take the House, if they beat incumbent Republicans in the Senate. That’s what Republicans need to be talking about between now and November,” Tillis said Sunday.

Congress

Sen. Bill Cassidy on Trump: ‘Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage’

Published

12 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Bill Cassidy appeared to question President Donald Trump’s view of Congress, saying in an interview that he is not sure Trump grasps that Congress “is a separate body, separate from the presidency.”

“Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage, and, frankly, sometimes Congress acts like it’s an appendage,” the Louisiana Republican said in a pre-taped interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that aired Sunday.

The latest criticism in a public clash between the two leaders, Cassidy also told host Margaret Brennan that he would be focused on affordability, including the cost of health care and groceries, if he were president.

“If I were president, I would be focused on those people that they have, my people, our people, us at the kitchen table. How do you make their life better? And that’s what I think the president should be focused on,” Cassidy said.

The relationship between Cassidy and Trump has been rocky for some time. Cassidy was one of only a handful of Republican leaders who voted to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Trump and Cassidy recently clashed in a closed-door meeting between GOP leaders, with Cassidy admitting he raised his voice to “match” the president’s.

“The president said something negative about me. I received it as attempting to bully me from asking a question that I think the American people need to know, and I’m not going to be bullied,” Cassidy said at the time.

However, after receiving a special briefing from Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff, Cassidy changed his vote on a resolution designed to rein in Trump’s power to wage war against Iran.

“They said right now the negotiations are delicate, and they could collapse if they’re not nursed along in the appropriate way. I can accept that,” Cassidy said.

“That’s the reason they said for their kind of lack of being forthcoming. I can accept that, but my goal was to be briefed, to have the truth in order to make a decision for the benefit of my country, and that was satisfied.”

Still, Cassidy’s stance against Trump has cost him: After serving more than a decade in the Senate, Cassidy lost his campaign for renomination after Trump endorsed against him. Rep. Julia Letlow will be the Louisiana Republican Senate candidate this fall.