Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer voiced anger with the Trump administration’s postponement of a classified briefing Tuesday for senators on the U.S.’s military strike in Iran, calling the delay “outrageous” and “evasive.”
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“Senators deserve full transparency. There is a legal obligation for the administration to inform Congress about precisely what is happening,” Schumer said. “What are they afraid of? Why won’t they engage Congress in the critical details?”
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The Senate briefing has been rescheduled for Thursday so Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio can attend, but Schumer said their appearance should be in addition to Tuesday’s schedule briefing, not as a replacement. He said he didn’t believe they would be informing senators of much compared to the witnesses for the previously scheduled briefing.
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“I think Hegseth is probably just going to give us talking points,” Schumer said, adding that he preferred to hear from Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Dan Caine, who was scheduled to brief lawmakers.
“He probably knows more about the military operations both now and in the future than anybody,” Schumer said. “There were good people from the State Department who knew all of the diplomatic stuff. We want to hear them.”
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