Foreign Policy

Congress Is Struggling to Stay Up to Date on Israel’s Rapidly Broadening Wars

The body has oversight responsibility over the U.S.’s role in the Middle East conflict. Some are expressing frustration with getting timely access to classified information.

House SCIF

Even lawmakers routinely accessing a SCIF are finding it hard to keep up with what’s happening in a timely fashion. Jose Luis Magana/AP

By John T. Seward

September 27, 2024 11:01 AM

Frustration is bubbling over in Congress as lawmakers appear to be scrambling to keep up with Israel’s expanding wars in the Middle East.

“That’s what happens way too damn often here,” Sen. Chris Coons told NOTUS last week, venting about another canceled classified meeting.

Coons routinely talks with top officials in the Biden administration; Jake Sullivan, the director of the National Security Council, and Bill Burns, the director of the CIA, are not infrequent contacts.