Congressional leaders say they're being kept in the dark
Congressional leaders not hearing much from White House on North Korea
Story highlights
- North Korea's nuclear program advancement has been a major concern on Capitol Hill
- President Donald Trump threatened to unleash "fire and fury against the country
(CNN)Several
key congressional leaders say they have yet to hear from the White
House on the administration's North Korea strategy as President Donald
Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric threatening "fire and fury" against
Pyongyang.
While
intelligence committee and "Gang of Eight" members report some
engagement on North Korea, Democrats say the lack of updates from the
White House on the tense situation in the Korean Peninsula is alarming.
"We
are not receiving updates or briefings at all. The legislative branch
of the US government is hearing about these developments on Twitter at
the same time as Kim Jong Un," said Ben Marter, a spokesman for the
Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois.
A
Democratic aide said the engagement from the administration on North
Korea was "not much and not enough," saying there was "limited member
engagement and only some staff level engagement."
The
recent advancements of North Korea's nuclear program have been a major
concern on Capitol Hill this year. In April the White House took the
rare step of inviting all 100 senators to the White House for a classified briefing on North Korea.
But
the threat escalated in a major way this week, amid reports that US
intelligence agencies assess that North Korea has the produced a
miniaturized nuclear warhead. Trump responded by threatening to unleash
"fire and fury like the world has never seen," which in turn prompted
Pyongyang to threaten Guam, a US territory where 6,000 US troops are
stationed.
The developments with
North Korea have occurred while Congress has largely deserted Washington
for its month-long August recess, leaving the President's comments to
stand for themselves without much chance for congressional leaders to
weigh in or potentially moderate his rhetoric.
As a result, formal briefings can be difficult.
Senate
armed services committee aides said that administration has not offered
the committees any formal briefings on North Korea. A Senate foreign
relations committee aide said there have been no member-level briefings
on North Korea this week.
There is
some discussion, however, particularly connected to intelligence and the
"Gang of Eight" — the Republican and Democrat leaders of House and
Senate and the intelligence committees who are briefed by the
administration on intelligence matters.
A
Senate intelligence committee source said the committee's staff have
held a series of briefings across the intelligence community on the
situation in North Korea.
The
briefings were described by the source as part of the regular and
frequent updates the intelligence community provides, and the committee
has not heard from the White House or National Security Council, the
source said.
Asked about
administration outreach on North Korea, an aide to House Speaker Paul
Ryan, a member of the Gang of Eight, said: "We are briefed and updated
regularly from all relevant departments and agencies as well as the
White House."
Where Trump is
reaching out is in discussions with individual lawmakers that he
regularly speaks with, including Sen. Lindsey Graham.
The
South Carolina Republican told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he's spoken
with the President about the dilemma of pre-emptively striking North
Korea to stop it from obtaining a nuclear weapon that could hit the
United States.
"If negotiations
fail, he is willing to abandon strategic patience and use preemption,"
Graham said. "I think he's there mentally. He has told me this. Now the
question for him is what are the options available to him under the
preemption scenario? He's thinking long and hard about it. His rhetoric
yesterday, I think, is a change that is probably necessary."
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