U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters in the departure lounge before returning to Washington after meeting with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders at Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, February 25, 2026.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
The White House is planning a series of briefings with lawmakers on the weekend’s attack on Iran, as the Senate is scheduled to return later Monday and the House reconvene Tuesday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will brief Congressional leaders on the Iran war Monday afternoon. The White House confirmed Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Kaine will hold a conference with the entire Congress on Tuesday.
White House press secretary Dylan Johnson said Monday that relevant congressional staffers had also been briefed.
“Yesterday, the Department of the Army briefed the bipartisan staff of several national security committees in both houses of Congress for more than 90 minutes on military operations in Iran,” Johnson said in an email Monday.
Immediately after the attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, bipartisan lawmakers called for a briefing on the military action. Democrats in particular questioned the legality of the strike, which was conducted without Congressional authorization.
Democrats in both chambers vowed this week to force a vote on the War Powers Resolution, which could limit President Donald Trump’s ability to carry out further attacks against Iran.
Mr. Rubio will meet with the Gang of Eight, a group that includes leaders of both parties and the chairs and executives of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees. The Gang of Eight was briefed last week ahead of the attack.
Appearing on CNN’s “News Central” Monday morning, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D.N.Y.) was asked what the biggest question was during the press conference.
“The administration has not shown any justification for such a pre-emptive strike, so we will continue to look for information that we have the obligation to suggest to the American people that we have information that indicates that Iran is preparing to attack the United States,” Jeffries said. “Nothing has been shown to justify what happened so far, and the administration has an onus to prove that.”
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement Saturday that based on information he received from the administration, “this is a war of choice with no strategic end goal.”
“As I said to Secretary Rubio in briefing the Group of Eight, military action in the region rarely ends well for the United States, and a conflict with Iran could easily spiral and escalate in ways we don’t expect. Donald Trump does not appear to be learning the lessons of history,” Himes said.
