Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back Sunday after NBC News host Kristen Welker grilled him over why the Trump administration did not seek congressional approval before launching a surprise U.S. operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of strongman Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Welker cited comments from White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who told Vanity Fair that an attack on Venezuela’s mainland would require approval from Congress.
“Why didn’t that happen? And will it happen with any future action the administration plans to take in Venezuela or elsewhere?” Welker asked on “Meet the Press.”
Rubio flatly rejected the premise, saying the strike carried out Saturday under “Operation Absolute Resolve” did not trigger the need for congressional authorization.
NEW: Secretary Marco Rubio fires back at Kristen Welker after she asked why the U.S. needs Venezuela’s oil, rips all the “clowns” who think they’re experts on Venezuela.
Welker: “Why does the United States need to take over Venezuela’s oil.”
Rubio: “We don’t need Venezuela’s… pic.twitter.com/BXBpBCogdd
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 4, 2026
“This was not an action that required congressional approval,” Rubio said. “In fact, it couldn’t require congressional approval because this was not an invasion. This is not an extended military operation. This is a very precise operation that involved a couple of hours of action.”
Marco Rubio stressed the mission’s narrow scope and secrecy, saying timing and conditions were critical.
“It was a very delicate operation, too. It was one that required all these conditions to be in place at the right time, in the right place,” he said.
Rubio also warned that notifying Congress in advance could have jeopardized lives.
“You couldn’t afford leaks. We couldn’t afford anything out there that would have endangered the mission and gotten people killed, or killed off the mission in the optionality,” he said. “We didn’t even know if the mission was going to happen. How can you notify something you’re not even sure if it can happen? Because in order for it to happen, you had needed to have weather conditions in place.”
Pressed on whether the administration would involve lawmakers going forward, Rubio said Congress will be included when required by law.
“Well, we will seek congressional approval for actions that require congressional approval, but otherwise they will get congressional notification,” Rubio said. “And this is not an operation that requires congressional approval. In fact, this is an operation akin to what virtually every single president for the last 40 years has conducted. The difference is that when it’s Donald Trump, you know, all these Democrats go bonkers.”
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, made clear the U.S. intends to take temporary control of Venezuela following Maduro’s capture.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said Saturday.
Trump described the move as a necessary step to stabilize the country, saying the goal is peace, liberty and justice for Venezuelans — including those who fled to the United States and hope to return home.
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