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In the wake of the U.S.’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday made it clear that it is somewhat unclear what’s next for the Latin American country.

His comments come as Democratic leaders continue to decry the administration’s actions in Venezuela and push for the White House to seek congressional approval for such military operations.

In multiple interviews, Rubio emphasized that the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela but stopped short of explaining exactly what the U.S. role in the country will look like as both nations reel from Maduro’s arrest — and in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s statement Saturday that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela for an indeterminate time.

“We are at war against drug trafficking organizations, not at war against Venezuela,” Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Rubio added that oil sanctions will remain in place, and the U.S. reserves the right to issue strikes against alleged drug boats heading toward America.

But while Rubio told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the U.S. is not occupying Venezuela, he did not reject the idea that it could be a future option from the Trump administration.

Trump, Rubio said, “does not feel like he is going to publicly rule out options that are available for the United States, even though that’s not what you’re seeing right now.”

“What you’re seeing right now is a quarantine that allows us to exert tremendous leverage over what happens next,” he added.

Trump announced that the U.S. had captured Maduro and his wife in a “large-scale strike” early Saturday. But some top Democrats said they still have not been briefed on the capture. Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he still hasn’t “gotten a phone call.”

“Well after the operation yesterday, a staffer at the office of the secretary of defense called the staff on the Intelligence Committee,” he said on “Face the Nation.”

Rubio on Sunday repeatedly deflected about the legality of the capture on ABC’s “This Week,” while he told NBC that congressional approval for the operation was unnecessary because the arrest was not a military mission.

“This was not an invasion. This was not an extended military operation. This was a very precise operation that involved a couple of hours of action,” Rubio said.

But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pushed back on Rubio’s claims, telling “Meet the Press” that the operation was “an act of war.”

“This was not simply a counter narcotics operation. It was an act of war. It involved, of course, the Delta Force,” the New York Democrat said, referring to the elite military unit which was involved in the capture of Saddam Hussein.

“We have to make sure when we return to Washington D.C. that legislative action is taken to ensure that no further military steps occur absent explicit congressional approval,” Jeffries added.

Rahm Emanuel, former chief off staff to Barack Obama, said in a post on social media that what happened in Venezuela “won’t stay in Venezuela.”

“This ain’t Vegas,” Emanuel said. “Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan taught us a hard uncomfortable truth: regime change is the easy part — managing the regional/international fallout is the real challenge.”

He continued, “2026 is starting to look a lot like 1896. Welcome to Trump’s brave new world. This is only day two of a wild, unpredictable ride — so hold on.”

The administration’s actions have prompted Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to say he will force a vote on a war powers resolution to block further military action against Venezuela without congressional approval.

Rubio appeared unperturbed about the vote, telling NBC’s Kristen Welker that the administration will only seek congressional approval for actions that require it.

“Otherwise, they will get congressional notifications,” he added.

Following Maduro’s ousting, Trump on Saturday said the U.S. would take control of the country. Rubio — along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine — would be among those in charge of Venezuela.

But Rubio on Sunday argued that the U.S. isn’t controlling Venezuela — just Venezuelan policy.

“We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction, because not only do we think it’s good for the people of Venezuela, it’s in our national interest,” Rubio said. “The goal of the policy is to see changes in Venezuela that are beneficial to the United States, first and foremost, because that’s who we work for.”

But Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) argued that the administration’s actions revolve around its desire to control Venezuela’s oil and that the country doesn’t pose a terrorist threat to the U.S.

“Listen, Venezuela is not a security threat to the United States. They’re not threatening to invade us. There is no terrorist group like al Qaeda operating there that has plans to attack the United States,” Murphy said on CNN.

He conceded that though Venezuela “produces cocaine,” America’s drug problem circulates around fentanyl.

“This seems to be mostly about oil and natural resources,” Murphy said. “You saw within hours of the invasion the announcement of a group of Wall Street investors, energy industry investors planning a trip to Venezuela to make money off of this invasion, off of this ouster.”

Rubio repeatedly mentioned oil in his interviews on Sunday, specifically that the U.S. doesn’t need Venezuela’s oil but wants to ensure its reserves don’t fall under the control of America’s adversaries.

While Democrats condemned the administration’s move, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told CBS that it was a “great day” for the military and CIA. He added that this is a chance for Venezuela to “turn the page.”

But he also warned that if Venezuela doesn’t break ties with drug traffickers, strikes against suspected narcotrafficking boats may continue.

“All of our naval ships are still in place as the president, Secretary Hegseth made clear,” said Cotton. “They’re not going anywhere until we see whether or not Venezuela changes its ways.”

But when pressed on if the White House has some idea of a transition plan in place for Venezuela, Rubio bristled. “There has to be a little realism here,” Rubio told CBS’ Margaret Brennan. “They’ve had the system of Chavismo in place for 15 or 16 years, and everyone’s asking why 24 hours after Nicolás Maduro was arrested there isn’t an election scheduled for tomorrow? There’s a process.” Chavismo is a left-wing political ideology implemented by former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.

Rubio said that “of course” the administration wants Venezuela to be “a place completely different” than it is today but added that there is no expectation “that’s going to happen in the next 15 hours.”

Though the U.S. cares about democracy and elections, Rubio told NBC: “The No. 1 thing we care about is the safety, security, well-being and prosperity of the United States.”