Live updates: Rubio testifies before Senate panel on US operations in Venezuela

Rubio gave a hopeful message to Venezuelans living in Florida, saying their homeland would need many to return home to help rebuild.

Addressing Venezuelans in Florida, Rubio said, “For the first time in over a decade and a half, there is the real possibility of transformation, and a lot of it will depend on them, because there are many people living in Florida and across the country who would like to go back and be a part of Venezuelan economic life.”

“Many of them are eager to do so and work. They’re going to need them. Venezuela is going to need them to come back and rebuild the businesses that were taken or lost and engage themselves in both civilian and economic life,” he added.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) ripped Rubio for not appearing before the Senate in a public testimony since the boat strikes in the Caribbean Sea began.

“We started this operation on September 2 with the attack on Venezuelans and boats in open waters. Now we are nearly five months in, next week is five months. Finally, a public hearing! Wow, how novel. Finally, a public hearing in the Senate or House,” Kaine said.

Rubio and War Secretary Pete Hegseth have given U.S. lawmakers several closed-door, classified briefings on the alleged drug-trafficking boat strikes and Venezuela, though this is the first public hearing. Kaine said he has not been able to explain intricate details of the U.S.’s policy in Venezuela with members of the public because the Trump administration “has only shared it with members in a classified setting.”

“I have Virginians deployed in this operation. I can’t answer their families’ questions. Thank God we’re having a public hearing five months in,” Kaine said.

More than an hour into Rubio’s hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the secretary appears to be responding to questions from Democratic members of the panel with poise, particularly over the Trump administration’s strategy for Venezuela and NATO.

The most pointed Democratic questioning came from the likes of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who criticized Rubio for only making himself available to the committee “five months” into the United States’s aggressive tactics concerning so-called “narco-terrorists” off the coast of Venezuela before the administration’s capture of former dictator Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3.

“I’d like to talk about the complete weakness of the legal rationale about the strikes on boats in international waters, but I can’t because the administration has only shared it with members in a classified setting,” Kaine said.

Similarly, Rubio defended the administration’s decision not to seek congressional approval before Maduro’s capture, part of Operation Absolute Resolve, reiterating that it was a “trigger” based mission.

“Mr. Secretary, the Gang of Eight has never leaked,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said. “It is critical that you consult with Congress for us to be safe. Our allies have to trust us. And for this committee to do our work, we have to trust you. Let’s work together.”

But Democrats also acknowledged their agreement with some of the Trump administration’s approach, especially its opposition to Maduro and the need for European countries to contribute more to NATO.

“I must say that you said something I like,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said.

Rubio quipped in reply: “I’m making progress.”

Rubio did not give the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a timeline on when democratic elections in Venezuela would occur.

“I can’t give you a timeline of how long it takes. It can’t take forever,” Rubio said, referencing that the U.S.’s ouster of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro occurred less than four weeks ago. After his arrest, Delcy Rodriguez, his vice president, became the interim president. Critics have pressed the administration about when democratic elections would be scheduled.

“This is not unprecedented. I can point to a number of places — Spain, Paraguay — two examples of places in which there was a transition from an autocratic regime to a democratic regime, and it took time,” Rubio said.

Rubio previously told reporters that there would be a “three-fold process” for transition and stability in Venezuela. That process, Rubio outlined, started with “stabilization” under Rodriguez. The transition would then move into the “recovery” phase, followed by a leadership change.

The United States will be paying close attention to how Venezuela treats political prisoners whom they have released since U.S. forces captured and arrested former dictator Nicolas Maduro, Rubio said Wednesday.

The Trump administration has put pressure on Venezuela’s government, which is now being led by Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, to release political prisoners, and while they have freed some, not every political prisoner has been released yet.

“Do they still have political prisoners? They do, but many are increasingly being released every single day, and some are actually being released and beginning to speak out again,” Rubio told lawmakers. “And we’re going to watch very closely how they’re treated and how that happens, because that’ll be part of how we judge them and their actions.”

Rodriguez said last week that more than 600 prisoners had been freed, though a leading Venezuelan human rights group said that number is inflated. Alfredo Romero, who is the leader of the Foro Penal human rights group, said on Monday that the group had verified the release of 266 political prisoners.

Rubio addressed U.S. foreign policy in Greenland before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, stating that “we’re in a good place right now” regarding the Arctic Danish territory.

“We had excellent meetings with the Secretary General of NATO. In fact, even as I speak to you now, there’ll be some technical level meetings between us and our partners in Greenland and Denmark on this issue, and I think we have in place a process that’s going to bring us to a good outcome for everybody,” Rubio said.

Rubio was expected to face questions on the island during Wednesday’s hearing. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) recently led a legislative delegation to Denmark to meet with the leadership of the NATO ally.

Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations committee that the Trump administration faced “a very unique situation” as it planned to oust Maduro and that the operation was “trigger-based” in nature.

“The truth of the matter is that this mission could not have been briefed to Congress, because it wasn’t even in the realm of possible until very late in December, when all of our efforts to negotiate with Maduro had failed, and the president was finally presented these options to make these decisions,” Rubio said.

Rubio’s comments came in response to Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) pressing the secretary of state on why Congress was not more fully briefed on U.S. policy in Venezuela and the operation to oust Maduro.

“It was also a trigger-based operation. It may never have happened. It required a number of factors to all align at the right place, at the right time, in a very limited window, and it wasn’t even clear if it was ever going to be possible,” Rubio continued.

Coons had asked Rubio about the operation, telling him, “We were told that military action to remove Maduro was not on the table.” But Coons did emphasize that Maduro was a “bad guy” and called his removal “flawlessly executed by American troops.”

“The point here that I want to make, first, is that it was rehearsed for months. The administration had a number of contingencies it was trying to navigate through. But over the course of months, when the administration was taking strike after strike after strike against drug-trafficking boats, in several instances where senior leaders of the administration briefed this committee and others, we were told that military action to remove Maduro was not on the table,” Coons said.

Coons told Rubio that American democracy “depends on consultation with Congress that is truthful and timely, and the confidence of our allies depends on them knowing where we’re going next.”

Rubio argued that the Iranian government was unable to address protesters’s concerns unless leaders “change or leave.”

He said the Iranian government “is probably weaker than it has ever been, and the core problem they face, unlike the protests you saw in the past, on some other topics, is that they don’t have a way to address the core complaints of the protesters, which is that their economy is in collapse.”

Rubio blamed the economic collapse on Tehran’s focus on its proxy network and building up its military, which caused global sanctions. The only way to revive its economy would be to cease this activity, which he believes the protesters are de facto demanding.

“That’s what the Iranian people are demanding, is that they stop doing that and start caring about them, and get these sanctions off them, and this regime is unwilling to do it,” he said.

“So the core challenges the protests may have ebbed, but they will spark up again in the future, because this regime, unless they are willing to change or leave, have no way of addressing the legitimate and consistent complaints of the people of Iran who deserve better,” Rubio added.

A Code Pink protester interrupted Rubio during the first few moments of his opening statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.

The protester called him “Narco Rubio,” while holding up a Code Pink sign that read, “Hands Off Venezuela.”

As the protester began to yell, Chairman James Risch (R-ID) reminded the hearing room that interrupters will be banned from the committee for a year, and repeat offenders will face a three-year ban. He had said at the beginning of the hearing that several attendees had returned on Wednesday after being banned previously over their committee interruptions.

The anti-militarist, left-wing Code Pink group has protested U.S. action in Venezuela since at least 2019, showing public support for Nicolas Maduro‘s regime and allies of the former dictator over the past several years.

Ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) railed against the current leadership in Venezuela during her opening remarks on Wednesday.

“The Maduro regime is essentially still in power. All the same people are running the country. Maduro’s vice president, now the interim president, has taken no steps to diminish Iran, China, or Russia’s considerable influence in Venezuela, one of the main reasons that has been given for the mission,” Shaheen said.

Shaheen agreed with the Trump administration that former dictator Nicolas Maduro was “bad for” Venezuela, its surrounding region, and the United States. However, she also made a case against acting President Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president. The Democratic senator told Rubio and the committee that lawmakers have to question, “Was the raid to arrest him worth the cost?”

“I’m not defending the regime. In fact, I’m concerned that we haven’t really changed the regime enough, and that America’s dollars are still going to drug runners and to significant organizations that we don’t want to have benefit from the funding that we’re selling now of oil, and providing to Venezuela,” Shaheen said.

“From Venezuela to Europe, the United States is spending more, risking more, and achieving less. That does not project strength,” Shaheen said.

Rubio argued that the United States was “much further along” in achieving its objectives in Venezuela than anticipated.

“I am saying that in three and a half, almost four weeks, we are much further along on this project than we thought we would be, given the complexities of it going into it,” he said, acknowledging that the task wouldn’t be easy.

“I think we’re making good and decent progress,” Rubio added, arguing that the U.S. was much better off in Venezuela today than four weeks ago, a trend he believes will continue.

Rubio will meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado after his public testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Rubio and Machado are set to meet at 1 p.m. at the State Department following his 10 a.m. testimony. Their meeting comes after Rubio warned acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez that the Trump administration is “prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation” from Rodriguez “if other methods fail.”

The Trump administration chose to back Rodriguez, former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro’s vice president, after the U.S. military ousted Maduro. However, Wednesday will mark Machado’s second visit with a Trump administration official after Maduro’s arrest, following her mid-January White House meeting with President Donald Trump. Machado gave her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump during the meeting.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies on Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. operations in Venezuela.

Lawmakers will be asking questions about the U.S. policy toward Venezuela. Many have expressed concerns about involvement in the area. It is the first time Rubio is answering questions on the matter since the U.S. captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.

The hearing is set to begin at 10 a.m.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will highlight the opportunities the administration can pursue in Venezuela now that Maduro is out of power during Wednesday’s hearing featuring Rubio.

The hearing, which will primarily focus on Venezuela, will mark the first time Rubio appears publicly in front of the committee since the U.S. military and law enforcement carried out the early January raid to capture and arrest Maduro, who is awaiting trial in a New York prison.

“President Trump’s actions against narcoterrorists and his capture of Maduro have made America safer. Every American should be thanking Donald Trump and Marco Rubio for what they have done,” a copy of Risch’s prepared remarks obtained by the Washington Examiner said. “These actions were limited in scope, short in duration, and done to protect U.S. interests and citizens. What President Trump has done in Venezuela is the definition of the President’s Article II constitutional authorities as Commander-in-Chief.”

“Now, the United States has a tremendous opportunity before us in Venezuela,” he will say. “Venezuela’s natural resources have frequently been used to bolster the economy of our adversaries—especially China. Through President Trump’s action, we have effectively cut off that supply, giving the United States tremendous leverage.”

The U.S. opted to allow Maduro’s vice president to assume the presidency instead of trying to install the opposition leaders into power. Rodriguez, who initially appeared willing to give in to U.S. demands, expressed frustration recently, raising questions about how tenable this situation will be moving forward.

Several protesters from the anti-military activist group Code Pink lined up outside the Senate Foreign Relations Committee room where Rubio is set to testify at 10 a.m.

Code Pink, which was founded in 2002 in protest of the then-impending U.S. invasion of Iraq, has led various walkouts and organized events against the Trump administration’s method of ousting former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Rubio’s testimony is set to focus on U.S. policy toward the new Venezuelan administration under acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

One protester was seen in the hallway wearing a “Hands off Venezuela” Code Pink shirt.

Naomi Lim contributed to this report.