Members of the House of Representatives exited their classified briefing on Iran on Tuesday ready to bash or praise Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing American attack on the theocratic state.
“The president has my full support for everything they’re doing,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told reporters upon leaving the briefing conducted by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“I think Secretary Hegseth, Secretary Rubio are doing a magnificent job,” Roy continued. “They ought to keep doing it, keep their foot on the gas, and try to get this done.”
U.S. and Israeli forces have coordinated in striking targets across Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury. Iran has retaliated with strikes on Israel and on U.S. bases and embassies in nearby countries.
Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed during the attack, Iranian state media confirmed. He had been the country’s supreme leader since 1989.
Top administration officials such as Rubio have argued Iran posed a threat to American interests in the region.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., asked by The Daily Signal if he believed the administration had convinced him that Iran posed an imminent threat, replied, “yeah, absolutely,” and referenced the killing of over 200 Marines in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, as well as the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000.
President Donald Trump has claimed Iran’s proxies carried out the Beirut bombings, and that Iran knew about the bombing of the USS Cole and was possibly involved in the attack.
Burchett referenced the country’s poor treatment of women and gays, saying, “These people are archaic, man. They’re demonic.”
But Democrats generally exited the briefing with harsh criticisms of the administration’s message.
The Daily Signal asked Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, about the administration’s argument that Iran posed an imminent threat.
“It was thoroughly unconvincing,” Moulton told The Daily Signal.
He added, “When you go into a classified briefing like this and all the questions that we’ve asked publicly cannot be answered by this administration, it just shows how reckless they are, how totally clueless they are, and how completely devoid of any plan for what comes next this operation is.”
Major Votes
Now, individual members in the House may have to take a public stance on the Iran question.
Democrats are planning to force a vote on a war powers resolution on the House floor, which, if it became law, would force an immediate end to hostilities with Iran.
The measure is unlikely to acquire a veto-proof level of support but will put members on the record on whether they support the operation.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has publicly supported the measure, which has been promoted by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., has introduced an alternative resolution which would require an end of military action within 30 days unless authorized by Congress.
The other potential Iran-related item on the House agenda is supplemental funding. The Pentagon already has a budget of over $1 trillion for fiscal year 2026.
Although Trump boasted on social media on Monday that the United States has a “virtually unlimited supply” of weapons, many on Capitol Hill are discussing whether the military will need a supplemental funding package for the operation in Iran.
“Conversations about potential supplementals are certainly being discussed,” Roy told The Daily Signal.
The fiscal hawk called for offsetting spending cuts if the White House requests more funding.
“If a supplemental is requested, I need to know that it’s paid for, and that this is clearly part of a defined mission with an endgame,” Roy said. “They haven’t presented us with one yet, so I have no way to know.”
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who chairs the House appropriations committee, said no package had been requested yet.
“There’s not been an ask, but the matter has been raised and I’m told that it’s under consideration,” he said.
