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Secretary Marco Rubio insisted the U.S. has a plan for post-transition governing in Venezuela, pushing back on criticism from Democrats who say the Trump administration moved faster to capture leader Nicol├бs Maduro than to outline what would follow.
In remarks to reporters on Capitol Hill after briefing Congress Wednesday, Rubio said the plan consists of three phases: stabilization, recovery and transition.
Democrats who attended classified briefings in the House and Senate said they left unconvinced the administration had a detailed roadmap for what comes next.
“I heard no detailed plan,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. ┬а
The dispute reflects a debate over whether the Trump administration has a coherent strategy for governing Venezuela after the removal of Maduro and whether U.S. policy is being driven primarily by military and economic leverage without a defined political end state.
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“This is not just winging it,” Rubio said, rejecting claims the administration lacked a strategy beyond the initial operation. “ItтАЩs already happening.
“I was in the Senate. When the other party is in power, thatтАЩs always what they say.”┬а
The first phase, Rubio said, focuses on stabilizing the country and preventing chaos, a goal he said would be enforced largely through U.S. control of VenezuelaтАЩs oil exports.
Secretary Marco Rubio insisted the U.S. has a plan for post-transition governing in Venezuela, pushing back on criticism from Democrats who say the Trump administration moved faster to capture leader Nicol├бs Maduro than to outline what would follow. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
“As youтАЩve seen today, we are in the midst right now and, in fact, about to execute on a deal to take all the oil they have thatтАЩs stuck in Venezuela. They canтАЩt move it because of our sanctions,” Rubio said. “That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is disbursed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.”
Rubio said the administration expects to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil as part of that effort.
The second phase, which Rubio described as “recovery,” would include ensuring American and other Western companies have fair access to VenezuelaтАЩs oil markets, while also releasing political prisoners, granting amnesty, allowing exiled opposition figures to return and beginning to rebuild civil society.
The third phase тАФ the transition тАФ was less clearly defined.
“In the end, it will be up to the Venezuelan people to transform their country,” Rubio said.
Rubio did not outline a timeline for elections or describe how a future Venezuelan government would be selected.
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One lawmaker who attended the HouseтАЩs briefing told Fox News Digital there was “very clear recognition” by Trump officials that current remaining figures in the Venezuelan government “are all in finger-pointing mode.”
“YouтАЩve got individuals who are now jockeying for power. They’re trying to coalesce people тАж and weтАЩre having to navigate that,” the House lawmaker said.
But most Republicans who attended the briefings largely defended the administrationтАЩs approach, though some acknowledged uncertainty about what comes next.
“No, we donтАЩt know what comes next,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “We have a plan. ItтАЩs like Mike Tyson said, тАШEverybody has a plan until you get punched in the face.тАЩ”
Other Republicans said RubioтАЩs presentation showed extensive preparation.
“If people could hear everything that we just heard, I think theyтАЩd have renewed confidence in both the planning leading up to it and the planning going forward,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said, “I thought it was a good briefing, timely. It was good that we hit that quickly and (got a) very thorough explanation.
“I think what was uniting was that everyone supports our military and, you know, you can’t deny how effectively it was done.”
Questions over the transition were heightened after President Donald Trump publicly questioned whether opposition leader Mar├нa Corina Machado has sufficient support inside Venezuela to govern, even as she remains a favored figure among Western governments.
The administration also raised eyebrows when it appeared to signal openness to the ascendance of Delcy Rodr├нguez, MaduroтАЩs vice president, rather than immediately backing Machado and opposition figure Edmundo Gonz├бlez.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration believes it has decisive influence over how Rodr├нguez rules the country, even if she is affiliated with MaduroтАЩs communist regime.┬а
“We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now,” Leavitt said Wednesday.┬а
The administration also raised eyebrows when it appeared to signal openness to the ascendance of Delcy Rodr├нguez, MaduroтАЩs vice president. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)
Multiple lawmakers who attended the briefings told Fox News Digital the administration did not share a timeline for new elections.
“ThereтАЩs no playbook for this,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., said. “ThereтАЩs a goal I have in mind, and IтАЩm pretty sure the administration shares that goal тАФ to get to a free and democratic Venezuela.”
Some Republicans acknowledged the transition would take time and ultimately would involve elections.
“We are four days in. ItтАЩs going to take time,” said Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont. “Eventually, we want to see Machado and the opposition movement, hopefully, be elected again.”
Democrats said the briefings left them with unanswered questions about the administrationтАЩs objectives and endgame.
Questions about the transition were heightened after President Donald Trump publicly questioned whether opposition leader Mar├нa Corina Machado has sufficient support inside Venezuela to govern.┬а (Todd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)
“I emerged having more questions than they had answered,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “The main question is, what is our objective and what is our exit strategy?”
Blumenthal also questioned the continued military posture in the region.
“We continue to have about one-fifth of our naval strength in that area,” he said. “If this is a law enforcement function, why are we continuing to have all of this military strength in the area when weтАЩve already apprehended the target?”
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., told Fox News Digital, “They were not forthright, and we know that they’ve been lying about this whole operation the whole time. But the problem with lying is you don’t really know exactly when they’re lying.”
He said the House briefing “only decreased my confidence in this administration for their ability to either tell the truth or know what the hell they’re doing.”
Other Democrats warned the administrationтАЩs approach risks repeating past U.S. mistakes abroad.
“This is an insane plan,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “TheyтАЩre talking about stealing the Venezuelan oil at gunpoint for an undefined period of time as leverage to micromanage the country.”
Murphy said the strategy amounted to using economic force to drive regime change without a clear end state.
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“An embargo is an act of force,” he said. “They are going to take the oil for as long as is necessary in order to try to facilitate regime change in Venezuela.
“That sounds like a recipe for disaster,” Murphy added. “It is just slightly different than the mistakes we made in Iraq and Afghanistan.”