Live updates: Trump issues warning to Iran as Rubio testifies before Senate on Venezuela

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to threaten the use of force “to ensure maximum cooperation” from the Venezuelan interim authorities when he testifies publicly for the first time since the military operation to capture and depose Nicolás Maduro was carried out in early January.

“We will closely monitor the performance of the interim authorities as they cooperate with our stage-based plan to restore stability to Venezuela. Make no mistake, as the President has stated, we are prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation if other methods fail,” Rubio will say, according to his prepared remarks for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.

Rubio’s testimony comes amid continued scrutiny of the military operation and the administration’s broader plans for Venezuela.

“(Delcy) Rodríguez is well aware of the fate of Maduro; it is our belief that her own self-interest aligns with advancing our key objectives,” Rubio intends to say.

He will once again assert in his testimony that the activity was not an act of war, but rather “an operation to aid law enforcement.” The Trump administration has used this argument as part of its justification for why it did not obtain congressional approval before the operation.

“There is no war against Venezuela, and we did not occupy a country. There are no US troops on the ground,” according to Rubio’s prepared remarks.

Not only did the administration not get congressional approval, it also did not give advance notice to key lawmakers about the military action, angering Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. However, efforts to constrain the president’s power through a war powers resolution narrowly failed in both the Senate and the House.