Closed-door briefings on the Trump administration’s military campaign against alleged drug-smuggling boats provided lawmakers with little clarity on the overall strategy of the operation and whether the ultimate goal is to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
After separate House and Senate briefings Tuesday from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, lawmakers on both sides of the regime-change debate said they received no clear answers on the administration’s endgame.
“I want to know what’s going to happen next,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a confidant of President Donald Trump and influential GOP defense hawk. “Is it the policy to take Maduro down? It should be.”
