{"id":2574738,"date":"2026-02-28T13:05:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T18:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rubio-gave-gang-of-eight-heads-up-before-iran-operation\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T13:08:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T18:08:24","slug":"rubio-gave-gang-of-eight-heads-up-before-iran-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rubio-gave-gang-of-eight-heads-up-before-iran-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubio gave Gang of Eight heads up before Iran operation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frubio-gave-gang-of-eight-heads-up-before-iran-operation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2574738&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Sen. Marco Rubio notified Congress\u2019s bipartisan Gang of Eight before the overnight U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, briefing seven of the eight members.A state Department official confirmed the notification, and White House aides said Rubio briefed the group ahead of the State of the Union. The Gang of Eight includes the top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate and the leaders of their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinese-military-scientists-discussed-weaponizing-sars-coronaviruses-in-document-obtained-by-u-s-government-australian-media\/\" title=\"Chinese Military Scientists Discussed Weaponizing SARS Coronaviruses In Document Obtained By U.S. Government: Australian Media\">intelligence committees<\/a>. Following the briefing, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged the administration to brief Congress on Operation Epic Fury and pressed for a War Powers Act vote; the Department of Defense also informed armed services committees after the strikes began. The article contrasts this with the January Venezuela operation, when Congress was not notified in advance, noting Rubio\u2019s defense that early disclosure could jeopardize missions. Democrats are pushing for stronger congressional oversight of overseas military actions, while Trump defends the strikes as necessary to halt Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions, a stance criticized by some conservatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene. The piece also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gabbard-denies-hiding-whistleblower-complaint-a-blatant-lie\/\" title=\"Gabbard denies hiding whistleblower complaint: &#039;A blatant lie&#039;\">references related coverage<\/a> and reactions to the broader Iran situation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Rubio alerted Gang of Eight before Iran attack, in contrast to Venezuela mission<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2519086\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Secretary of State <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/marco-rubio\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"51\">Marco Rubio<\/a> notified Congress&rsquo;s bipartisan &ldquo;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/gang-of-eight\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/gang-of-eight\/\">Gang of Eight<\/a>&rdquo; members before the U.S. military helped Israel strike <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"100\">Iran<\/a> overnight.<\/p>\n<p>The Cabinet secretary called the lawmakers on Friday night, but he was only able to brief seven of the eight members. It&rsquo;s unclear who was the sole lawmaker who did not pick up; the <em>Washington Post <\/em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2026\/02\/28\/israel-strikes-iran-live-updates\/\">reported it was Rep. Jim Himes<\/a> (D-CT), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4474502\/trump-threatening-destroy-iran-nuclear-facilities-obliterated\/\">Trump is threatening to destroy the same Iran nuclear facilities he said were &#8216;obliterated&#8217; months ago<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/4474790\/rubio-memo-warns-middle-east-officials-not-inflame-tensions\/\">Rubio memo warns Middle East officials not to inflame &#8216;rising tensions in the region&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/4473625\/huckabee-jewish-leaders-antisemitism-tucker-carlson\/\">Huckabee tells Jewish leaders antisemitism must be &#8216;confronted&#8217; after Carlson drama<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Where the U.S. and Israel have launched strikes against Iran. Graphic by Joana Suleiman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A State Department official confirmed the notification to Congress to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PressSec\/status\/2027777973319766251\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PressSec\/status\/2027777973319766251\">confirmed<\/a> Rubio provided congressional notification.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4475552\/world-leader-diplomatic-resolution-us-strike-iran\/\"><strong>WORLD LEADERS STRESS DIPLOMATIC RESOLUTION AFTER US-ISRAEL STRIKES ON IRAN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Gang of Eight includes the top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, as well as the top party members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio consulted the group during an hour-long briefing on Tuesday before the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/state-of-the-union\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"658\">State of the Union<\/a>, per the State Department official.<\/p>\n<p>After exiting the briefing, Senate Minority Leader <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chuck-schumer\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"384\">Chuck Schumer<\/a> (D-NY) told the Trump administration to &ldquo;make its case&rdquo; to the nation about attacking Iran. He issued a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenSchumer\/status\/2027765113617277225\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenSchumer\/status\/2027765113617277225\">similar statement<\/a> Saturday morning, urging the administration to brief Congress on Operation Epic Fury.<\/p>\n<p>The State Department official said after the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes had begun, the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-defense\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"335\">Department of War<\/a> notified the House and Senate armed services committees of the ongoing operation.<\/p>\n<p>The attack is reminiscent of the early January operation in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/venezuela\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"910\">Venezuela<\/a>, where the U.S. military bombed the capital of Caracas and captured former Venezuelan dictator <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nicolas-maduro\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"2252\">Nicolas Maduro<\/a>. That overnight operation also took place on a Friday night into the next morning.<\/p>\n<p>Where the Venezuela operation differs from the latest Iran attack, however, is that Congress was not notified by the Trump administration in advance. Rubio justified his decision to not communicate with federal lawmakers at the time, saying such a notification could have jeopardized the mission and risked the lives of U.S. service members.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio last briefed the Gang of Eight on Jan. 5, two days after the Venezuela operation.<\/p>\n<p>The Gang of Eight was also not notified of the U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities ahead of Operation Midnight Hammer last June.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Iran&rsquo;s various missile ranges. Graphic by Joana Suleiman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The lack of communication between the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"8767\">White House<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congress\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"31\">Congress<\/a> about U.S. military strikes has prompted Democrats to call for a vote to enforce the War Powers Act. The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >federal law requires<\/a> the president to seek congressional approval before launching attacks overseas. Schumer reiterated his party&rsquo;s call for a war powers vote, even though Rubio briefed some members of Congress on the situation beforehand, unlike the other two times.<\/p>\n<p>President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\">Donald Trump<\/a> argued his goal is to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to free the Iranian people instead of seeking a protracted war with the Islamic Republic. Some conservative figures, like former Rep. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/marjorie-taylor-greene\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"776\">Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a> (R-GA), don&rsquo;t see it the same way.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FmrRepMTG\/status\/2027746247684075987\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FmrRepMTG\/status\/2027746247684075987\">social media post<\/a> Saturday morning, Greene criticized Trump for campaigning on peace in 2024 and making his supporters, including her, believe he wouldn&rsquo;t take part in international conflicts.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4475390\/read-in-full-trump-address-iran-operation\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4475390\/read-in-full-trump-address-iran-operation\/\">READ IN FULL: TRUMP ADDRESS ON IRAN OPERATION<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We said &lsquo;No More Foreign Wars, No More Regime Change!&rsquo; We said it on rally stage after rally stage, speech after speech,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Trump, Vance, basically the entire admin campaigned on it and promised to put America FIRST and Make America Great Again.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Now, America is going to be force fed and gas lighted all the &lsquo;noble&rsquo; reasons the American &lsquo;Peace&rsquo; and Pro-Peace administration had to go to war once again this year, after being in power for only a year. Head-spinning, but maga,&rdquo; Greene concluded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rubio briefed 7 of 8 Gang of Eight before Iran attack<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4188,"featured_media":2574739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26056078831176_ece962.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[57778,74799,5438,35343],"class_list":["post-2574738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-gang-of-eight","tag-iran-operation","tag-rubio","tag-u-s-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26056078831176_ece962.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4188"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2574738"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2574742,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2574738\/revisions\/2574742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2574739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2574738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2574738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2574738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}