Updated January 7, 2026 at 6:36 PM CST
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth briefed the Senate and House this morning on the U.S. capture of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend and the administration's next steps.
The pair detailed a process of "stabilization," "recovery" and "transition."
Rubio told reporters step one will involve "quarantine" for Venezuela, a process that will include selling sanctioned oil and distributing the profits.
"We don't want it descending into chaos," Rubio said. "Part of that stabilization and the reason why we understand and believe that we have the strongest leverage possible is our quarantine."
Rubio went on to explain that the continued seizure of oil tankers is part of the plan, in addition to the process of selling sanctioned oil.
U.S. forces seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker, originally bound for Venezuela, in the North Atlantic Wednesday.
"We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil," Rubio said. "We're going to sell it in the marketplace, at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime."
Rubio said step two will focus on "recovery," where access to the Venezuelan market will be restored in a way that is "fair."
He said at the same time, they will "begin to create the process of reconciliation nationally within Venezuela, so that the opposition forces can be amnestied and released and from prisons or brought back to the country, and begin to rebuild civil society."
Rubio did not offer details of how step three — "transition" — will work. He said some phases would overlap.
Reaction from lawmakers
Lawmakers were clamoring for a briefing from the administration, which did not notify Congress until after the operation concluded.
Top lawmakers received a classified briefing on Monday, but Wednesday's all-member briefing was the first time rank-and-file members received a detailed brief from top administration officials.
"We had, I believe, a full house," said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. "General Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave a very precise, detailed narrative about the operation and what happened."
Johnson said the administration's objective is not to have U.S. boots on the ground.
"That is not their expectation," he said.
The partisan divide was on full display as lawmakers left the briefing, with Republican lawmakers praising the operation while Democrats criticized the administration for not being forthright.
"We have clarity on the mission and what's to come next," said Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla. "This administration has put people in place who have clear vision and a spine in which to execute."
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., told reporters the briefing showed the military "clearly had a plan" but that he thinks the administration is "completely winging it" on next steps.
"I did not get a sense that they have any legitimate plan for what comes next," he said. "And although we obviously can't talk about their answers to questions in a classified briefing, there are a lot of questions from both Democrats and Republicans about what comes next, what the timeline is — and they basically refused to answer any of those questions."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., agreed the briefing included details on the military operation itself but was dissatisfied with the discussion about the path forward.
"In terms of what comes next, it does not seem that this administration seems to be forthright, transparent or frankly have communicated the thought necessary," she said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he wants the administration to answer questions in public hearings. He's repeatedly cited concern about the administration taking similar actions in other countries and said he's dissatisfied with the answers given to him by administration officials.
"They're avoiding all public discussion," he said. "We need answers to these questions and we need them made publicly."
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