Democratic lawmakers in both the Senate and the House are expressing significant frustration over the lack of transparency from the Trump administration concerning recent U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean. These operations have reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 57 individuals aboard boats suspected of drug smuggling.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia has voiced his strong discontent after learning that a briefing on these strikes was held exclusively for Republican senators. He described this exclusion of Democrats as “corrosive not only to our democracy but downright dangerous for our national security.” Warner emphasized that all senators, irrespective of their political affiliation, have a constitutional duty when it comes to the use of military force by the United States. He cautioned that politicizing decisions involving the deployment of service members can compromise their safety.

The contentious briefing reportedly included a presentation from the Office of Legal Counsel, which attempted to provide a legal rationale for these military actions. Warner noted that this legal justification was something Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously assured him but had yet to deliver.

Warner said the briefing also included the Office of Legal Counsel’s opinion that tries to lay out legal justification for those strikes. That legal justification is something he said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had promised him but had not been provided yet. 

“If you’ve got a valid legal opinion, wouldn’t you want to share it with every member? If you believe, as I think the administration does, that we know these guys are bad guys, wouldn’t you want to catch them and show the world the drugs and show their history of bad activities?” said Warner.

Warner also chastised his Republican colleagues who attended, asking why they didn’t push back or walk out of the briefing when they saw no Democrats were present. 

Senators Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Jon Husted, R-Ohio, both told they believe all senators, including Democrats, should be included in these briefings. 

House Democrats on the Armed Services Committee were in fact included in a bipartisan hearing on these strikes Thursday. However, those who spoke to the press afterwards were frustrated by what they believed was unsatisfactory information and a lack of strategy to actually address drug trafficking, and fentanyl in particular, since tens of thousands of Americans die from using the drug each year. 

They also noted that no legal justifications were provided for the killings because the lawyers who were due to attend were pulled from the briefing. 

Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., called out the administration over concerns that only cocaine has been seized, not fentanyl, when fentanyl is often used to justify the military actions.

“They admitted that all of the narcotics coming out of this part of the world is cocaine. They talked a little bit about the connection between cocaine and fentanyl, although I’m not convinced that what they said was accurate,” she said.

“And I think it goes to show that this is actually not about addressing fentanyl and the deaths of Americans, which is a really huge problem that we should be addressing. This is not doing that.”

The Pentagon did not dispute the fact that only cocaine has been seized so far, with chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell saying, “This morning, the Department held several committee briefings to ensure continued transparency with lawmakers. The Department is deeply concerned that Members of Congress are making public statements regarding information received in a classified briefing. The Department considers any unauthorized disclosure of classified information as serious breach of national security.” 

None of the Republicans who attended the House briefing would comment to the press.