Senators emerged from their first classified briefing on President Donald Trump’s decision to strike three Iranian nuclear sites, with Republicans calling the operation a success and Democrats expressing doubt following Thursday’s closed-door session.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine briefed senators Thursday, after the session was pushed back from its original Tuesday schedule. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was expected at the earlier meeting but did not attend the rescheduled briefing.
Republicans applauded the operation following the meeting and said the strikes had clearly dealt a major blow to Iran’s nuclear program.
“I think it’s safe to say that we have struck a major blow alongside our friends in Israel against Iran’s nuclear program that is going to make America safer, our friends in the region safer, and protect the world from the risk of an Iranian nuclear weapons for years,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK), chairman of the Intelligence Panel.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) insisted the Iran strikes set the country’s nuclear program back by years, not months. He said, “Obliterated is a good word for me to use,” emphasizing that the targeted sites were so thoroughly destroyed that “nobody is going to work at these three sites anytime soon.”
A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment found Iran’s nuclear program was delayed by only a few months, undercutting claims by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the strikes had significantly crippled Tehran’s capabilities.
The Trump administration has moved swiftly to push back on reports downplaying the effectiveness of the strikes. At a Thursday morning news conference, Hegseth detailed the scope of the operation.
“You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated, choose your word. This was an historically successful attack,” Hegseth said.
Democrats remained unconvinced, continuing to question the effectiveness of the strike.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said the strike appears to “have only set back the Iranian nuclear program by a handful of months.”
“There’s no doubt there was damage done to the program,” Murphy said, but he pushed back on the administration’s claims, adding, “allegations that we have obliterated their program just don’t seem to stand up to reason.”
“I just do not think the president was telling the truth when he said this program was obliterated,” he said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said it’s too early to know the full effect of the Iran strikes, warning that anyone claiming certainty is “making it up” without a full battle damage assessment.
“The point is we don’t know, anybody who says we know we certainly is making it up, because you have no climate battle damage assessment,” he said, speaking to reporters following the briefing on Thursday.
Blumenthal added, “Certainly this mission was successful insofar as if we were extensively destroyed and perhaps severely damaged and set back the Iranian nuclear arms program, but how long and how much really remains to be determined by the intelligence community itself.”
Cotton criticized the leak of the report on the Iran strikes, suggesting it was intended to undermine the mission and portray the administration in a negative light.
“Obviously, it was leaked by someone who was trying to put our pilots and their crews and the President and his national security team in the worst light. I don’t know if it was from Congress. I don’t know if it was from someone inside the administration who opposed the President’s policy,” Cotton said. “That report was preliminary. It was done with low confidence. It said it had numerous intelligence gaps. It assumed the worst-case scenario with perfect conditions in Iran.”
Trump accused congressional Democrats of leaking a preliminary Pentagon intelligence report that cast doubt on the effectiveness of Saturday’s airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear program.
“The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran. They should be prosecuted!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Shortly before Trump made his accusation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested congressional Democrats could be behind the leak, though she offered no evidence and acknowledged that no definitive conclusions had been reached.
“It could have been someone in the intelligence community, or it could have been someone on Capitol Hill who had access to this document. The FBI is searching for that person,” Leavitt said.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the Senate Intelligence Committee’s vice chairman, dismissed Trump’s threat to prosecute Democrats.
“I have been extraordinarily consistent that leaks of any kind should be prosecuted. I simply wish that the administration would adhere to that same level of secrecy about classified information that shouldn’t be shared on non-classified channels like Signal,” Warner said, referencing a scandal involving Hegseth in which he shared details of U.S. military operations against Houthi rebels in Yemen via the messaging app.
The briefing comes as the Senate is expected to vote on a resolution that would require congressional authorization for any future military action against Iran. Democrats have slammed Trump for not giving Congress more information.
CENTRIFUGES AT IRAN’S FORDOW ‘NO LONGER OPERATIONAL,’ GROSSI SAYS
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the Iran briefing reinforced the need to enforce the War Powers Act, so Congress has a say in military actions.
“Anyone in that meeting, anyone if they are being honest with themselves, their constituents, their colleagues, would know that we need to endorse a War Powers Act and force them to articulate, answer some specific questions, and a coherent strategy right away,” Schumer said.