WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday organized a Republican-only Senate classified briefing on the escalating military strikes targeting alleged Venezuelan drug trafficking boats, angering defense-minded Democrats.

According to a source familiar with the matter, the briefing on the hostilities was organized by the Trump administration directly, rather than the Armed Services Committee, and the White House controlled who was invited — a notable break in precedent in congressional national security circles, which are typically more insulated from partisan politics.

The House Armed Services Committee is set to receive a similar briefing on Thursday, but it will be bipartisan and open to all members of the panel, according to a committee aide.

On Wednesday afternoon, a stream of Defense Department officials and some officers in uniform could be seen departing the area of the Capitol that houses a SCIF, a secure briefing room where classified material can be discussed.

The partisan nature of the briefing sparked near immediate tension in the Capitol.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a member of the Armed Services Committee, could be heard near the Senate subway asking the top Democrat on the panel, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, if Republicans were “not having secret classified briefings without us?”

Reed appeared to nod in the affirmative.

“I am absolutely disgusted that they would come and have a briefing only to Republicans and keep it secret from Democrats on the justification for these attacks in Venezuela,” Duckworth later said. “This is ridiculous. This is not how we will operate in the Senate.”

Democrats widely said they received no notice of the briefing and learned of it only when asked by reporters.

“It makes no sense to give a briefing to Republicans only. This is exactly why Congress needs to be brought in to any decision about use of force, and I hope we’ll have more support for the war powers resolution when we take it up,” said Sen. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., a lead sponsor of legislation that would curb the hostilities in Venezuela without congressional approval. A vote on that measure is expected in the coming weeks.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., the ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and a senior Democrat on the Foreign Relations panel, said the exclusion of his party was “yet another step away from a long-standing tradition where the Pentagon and the administration consults closely with the relevant members of Congress and their staff.”

Coons said he had only received the “most superficial” information on the Trump administration’s plans for the future of Venezuela.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said he did not know that the briefing was for Republicans only until he got there, and was surprised that was the case. “I would have preferred it to have been bipartisan,” Rounds said, “which is normally the way we do things within the Intelligence Committee and also Armed Services.”

The tension over the briefing comes as the U.S. continues to carry out strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers in international waters. In a post on X Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. strikes killed 14 people on four alleged drug boats, bringing the total number of alleged drug traffickers killed to 57, according to U.S. figures.

Last week, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the U.S. had dispatched its most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the Caribbean, near Venezuela. And news reports indicate the CIA is operating in the country, sparking questions of whether the ultimate goal of the U.S. in Venezuela is regime change rather than counter-narcotics operations.

White House officials have repeatedly said that Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro is illegitimate and a dictator.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the briefing.

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