Even Republicans Flip Out After Classified Pentagon Briefing on Iran

The Pentagon isn’t properly briefing members of Congress on its plans in the Iran war.

Prominent Republicans are bristling at the Trump administration’s opaque Iran war plans, particularly after a closed-door briefing of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on Wednesday.

Alabama Representative Mike Rogers, the Republican chair of the House committee, told reporters after the briefing that the Pentagon wasn’t providing sufficient information about its aims in the Middle East.

“We want to know more about what’s going on, what the options are, and why they’re being considered,” Rogers said. “We’re just not getting enough on those questions.”

Rogers added that the Pentagon did not answer general questions about the additional 3,000 troops and over 2,000 Marines that the administration is sending to Iran. There are already roughly 50,000 U.S. troops in the area, despite Trump telling reporters last week that he’s “not putting troops anywhere.”

“We just wanted them to tell us what’s the plan, and we didn’t get any answers,” Rogers 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.… 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.”

Politico’s Connor O’Brien asked the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Republican Roger Wicker, what he thought of Rogers’s remarks.

“Let me put it this way, I can see why he might have said that,” Wicker replied.

But the always-vocal Nancy Mace was the most furious Republican after the briefing. Mace wrote a number of posts on X criticizing both the war and the government’s unclear objectives.

“Just walked out of a House Armed Services briefing on Iran,” read one post. “Let me repeat: I will not support troops on the ground in Iran, even more so after this briefing.”

Another of Mace’s posts elaborated: “The justifications presented to the American public for the war in Iran were not the same military objectives we were briefed on today in the House Armed Services Committee. This gap is deeply troubling. The longer this war continues, the faster it will lose the support of Congress and the American people.”

The comments are a welcome turn against an illegal, unpopular war. But let’s not forget that all three lawmakers were supportive of Trump’s decision to strike Iran in February.

“History will record this night,” Mace wrote after the first U.S. missiles fell. “America and Israel did not flinch and did not negotiate with darkness.”

White House Declares Mission Accomplished on Regime Change in Iran

Meanwhile, the clerical leadership and Revolutionary Guard Corps still hold power.

The next time White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wants to double down on one of Donald Trump’s dubious claims, she should really consult a dictionary first.

During a press briefing Wednesday, Leavitt was asked about Trump’s comments the day before when he claimed that regime change had been achieved in Iran.

“I mean, has it not?” Leavitt replied, smirking. “Their entire leadership has been killed. And nobody has really seen, or legitimately heard from this alleged new leader. So, wouldn’t you say there has been a change in the regime?”

“There has been a change in the leadership,” the reporter replied.

“There’s been a change in the regime leadership, which is what the president said. So, thank you for confirming he was right,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt on regime change in Iran: "Has it not? Their entire leadership has been killed. Wouldn't you say there's been a change in the regime? Thank you for confirming the president was right." pic.twitter.com/lJZabzb6xR— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 25, 2026

Leavitt on regime change in Iran: "Has it not? Their entire leadership has been killed. Wouldn't you say there's been a change in the regime? Thank you for confirming the president was right." pic.twitter.com/lJZabzb6xR

Former national security adviser John Bolton—and everyone else with a high school education—disagrees with that assessment.

“The faces may change, but the ideology remains the same,” Bolton told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday. “The regime will change when the ayatollahs and the Revolutionary Guard are gone, and we’re not at that point yet, quite obviously. But it’s another way for him to say that we have won the objective and therefore are victorious and can leave.”

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has only consolidated power after the U.S. and Israel launched a series of brutal airstrikes that killed members of the Iranian regime, The Washington Post reported last week.

After Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed earlier this month, his son Mojtaba Khamenei, a hard-line cleric, was tapped to replace him. Trump has claimed that Khamenei is not an acceptable replacement but admitted he would be open to working with another religious leader. His own remarks revealed what was already clear: that his administration has no plan for a postwar Iran.

Trump Gushes Over ICE Agents’ “Much Larger, and Harder” Muscles

The president seems to have a fantastical impression of his immigration agents.

President Trump claimed on Wednesday that “the public is loving ICE.” In reality, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s approval ratings are actually the lowest they’ve ever been.

“I am so proud of our ICE Patriots! They were unfairly maligned by the Lunatic Democrats for years, and now, at the Airports, in addition to what they are supposed to be doing, they are helping people with bags, even picking up and cleaning areas. They are so proud to be there!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The Public is........

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