Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Republican from Virginia, was among the lawmakers briefed on Tuesday by Trump administration officials on the U.S. war with Iran.
The Navy veteran came away convinced that Iran posed an “imminent threat.”
But she told WTOP’s Nick Iannelli she does not know specifically what that threat was.
“I’m assuming we had some type of knowledge that solidified it enough for us to take action,” Kiggans said Wednesday. “The world is a safer place because of our actions in the Middle East.”
Kiggans said CIA Director John Ratcliffe offered to brief members on the more specific intelligence.
“I look forward to requesting a briefing,” she said.
In the Senate on Wednesday, where views of the U.S. strikes on Iran are largely split along party lines, Republicans voted down an effort to pass a war powers resolution to halt the war.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told WTOP on Monday that there was no imminent threat to the United States.
“In fact, Iran’s been at its weakest point in decades,” he said.
Van Hollen called it “an illegal war.”
“It’s a regime change war which Donald Trump said he would never start. And here we are. Americans have already lost their lives, civilians have lost their lives, and for what? And the President can’t answer that question,” he said.
President Donald Trump and his advisers have said that the military campaign could last four to five weeks, and Monday, Trump said he was prepared “to go far longer than that.”
Kiggans, who represents parts of southeast Virginia, expressed confidence that Trump’s war will not turn into another open-ended conflict in the Middle East.
“We have clear objectives that we are trying to meet. I think our allied partners are more read in now than ever, because they have not only attacked American military outposts, but they are also attacking our allied partners in that region. So of course, they will be engaged,” Kiggans said.
“It’s hard to make the case that this does any good, given all the risks involved,” Van Hollen said. “This is clearly going to roil the region. It’s going to create even more instability in the region.”
WTOP’s Nick Iannelli contributed to this report.