House Democrats are irate over the Friday briefing from Trump administration officials on the U.S.' strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, with one lawmaker calling it a "waste of time," reported Axios.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine gave the briefing.
"I would say that that particular briefing left me with more concerns and a true lack of clarity on how we are defining the mission and the success of it," said Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Conn., the minority whip.
"It was a waste of time. I want that hour of my life back," one lawmaker told Axios. "They were just trying to justify the [strikes] and parrot the talking points."
"When you appoint such highly political, loyal appointees, then you don't expect to get any kind of objectivity ... you want them to have enough credibility that a person on the other side of the aisle would listen to them," said another lawmaker.
The congressional briefings on the situation in the Middle East had originally been planned for Tuesday.
Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., told The Hill he was "very disappointed that we learned very little about the inventory of high-enriched uranium — 60% enriched uranium — its whereabouts and what that meant for the breakout time to Iran's first nuclear device."
"The 60% enriched material, while not weapons-grade, is weapons-usable. The Hiroshima device was a mixture of 50% and higher enriched uranium. And that worked pretty well."
"The goal of this mission, from the start, was to secure or destroy that material," he continued. "That's where they're hiding the ball. And that's what we have to keep our eyes on."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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