(NewsNation) — Cabinet secretaries Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth faced lawmakers in two separate briefings Tuesday about deadly U.S. strikes off the coast of Venezuela.
Both top Trump advisers remained tight-lipped about Tuesday’s Senate briefing as they headed toward the House, instead praising the Trump administration’s “Operation Southern Spear” campaign to reporters.
“This has been a highly successful mission that’s ongoing and continued, and we’re pleased to be here today to update Congress on how that’s developing and how that’s moving forward,” Rubio said. Hegseth said he “echoed that” sentiment.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has called for transparency around the strikes, blasted the closed-door meeting’s results to reporters.
“I reiterated my demands of Secretary Hegseth in front of all 100 Senators, that he allow every senator to see the unedited version … He refused. The administration came to this briefing empty-handed,” Schumer said.
Schumer and other lawmakers, including some Republicans, have demanded more information about the campaign, which includes 25 strikes on suspected drug boats since September that have left at least 95 people dead.
“If they can’t be transparent on this, how can you trust their transparency on all the other issues swirling about in the Caribbean?” Schumer said.
Concern surrounding the operation has mounted after a Sept. 2 follow-up attack on strike survivors, which some believe may have violated international law.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, departs a closed-door meeting with Senators on Capitol Hill on Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) 
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arrives for a closed door meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) 
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 16: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine (C) departs a closed door meeting with Senators on Capitol Hill on December 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. Caine joins Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio who are headed back to Capitol Hill to speak with lawmakers as questions mount about strikes carried out by the U.S. military on suspected drug boats out of Venezuela ordered by the Trump Administration. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said he the briefing convinced him the U.S. military was “100% justified” in its Sept. 2 strikes. He also accused Democrats of finding an issue with Hegseth and President Donald Trump, rather than the law.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called for the release of an unedited video of the strikes, which he called “the least of my freaking problems.”
“I don’t think most Americans give a damn about the video. Most Americans want to know what’s going to happen next,” Graham told reporters in reference to a potential U.S.-led Venezuelan regime change.
Hegseth on Tuesday said his department does not intend to “release a top-secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public.” He added that the Senate and House Armed Services Committees will be shown the unedited video Wednesday.
The briefings came hours after U.S. Southern Command confirmed a new round of deadly attacks on alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific near Venezuela in which eight people were killed.