Top Republican Attacks Pentagon For Not Providing Details On Iran

A top Republican denounced the Pentagon Wednesday for failing to give lawmakers enough information about U.S. military operations during a classified briefing on Iran — including plans for troops.

House Armed Services Committee chair Rep. Mike Rogers said members warned defense officials that troop movements in the region should be "thoughtful and deliberate." They also made it clear the administration isn't offering details on American efforts in the U.S. campaign, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.

"We want to know more about what's going on, what the options are, and why they're being considered," the Alabama lawmaker said. "And we're just not getting enough answers on those questions."

It's a notable rebuke from a senior GOP defense hawk who has backed President Donald Trump's decision to attack Iran — and a warning that the administration could lose support for the nearly month-old war if it can't adequately make the case to Congress.

"That's what I conveyed to them at the end of this hearing, is this has consequences if you don't remedy it," Rogers told reporters.

Defense officials are supposed to brief members of House and Senate Armed Services panels Wednesday behind closed doors. The sessions come as the Pentagon prepares to deploy thousands of troops from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East. They will join more than 2,000 Marines already headed to the region to assist with operations in Iran.

The deployment has raised concerns among lawmakers that U.S. troops could enter the country. Rogers said the briefing didn't answer lawmakers' general questions about the extra troops.

"We just wanted them to tell us what's the plan, and we didn't get any answers," he said. "I understand they can't give us, they shouldn't give us, specific operational details. But generally, we should be able to get more texture than we're receiving from them."

Some Republicans are voicing concerns that the conflict could spiral into a ground war with Iran, including Armed Services Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

"Just walked out of a House Armed Services briefing on Iran. Let me repeat: I will not support troops on the ground in Iran, even more so after this briefing,” Mace posted on X.

The intraparty criticism also feeds into long-running complaints Rogers and Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker have aired about feeling left in the dark by senior Pentagon leadership. The pair argued that their committees weren't adequately consulted before a decision to remove a brigade of rotational troops from Romania last fall.

"This is not just about Epic Fury," Rogers said. "This is a consistent pattern of tagging the base and saying, 'We came over and briefed you,' But they're not telling us things, substantive things.”