The State Department is accusing Democrats of performative “grandstanding” by demanding a sweeping Venezuela oil deal briefing then postponing it so the Senate could leave town early.
Four senior Senate Democrats demanded documents they already knew were coming, according to material reviewed by Fox News Digital. Then, the Senate rescheduled a congressional briefing on the agreement planned for Oct. 1, 2026, so it could break for fall recess.
The group of lawmakers were seeking more information on the Pentagon’s involvement in an agreement with North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) that gives the Department of War a 35% stake in one of Venezuela’s largest oil producers.
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State says the lawmakers had known for weeks that administration officials planned to brief the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and provide documents on the deal on Thursday.
The department went forward with delivering copies of the U.S. government’s strategic partnership agreement with NABEP to the committee, claiming it did so despite the briefing being pulled down “as a courtesy.”
“Copies of the USG Strategic Partnership Agreement with NABEP for your Members are in the SFRC front office,” a senior State Department official wrote. “Each Member has a folder with their copy.”
State Department Assistant Secretary for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson claimed Senate Democrats canceled the briefing so they could “skip town and go on vacation.”
“This is pure grandstanding,” Johnson wrote on X. “When they sent this letter, they had known for weeks that we planned to brief them and provide the documents today, on October 1.”
A congressional source familiar with the planned briefing disputed State’s characterization, telling Fox News Digital that lawmakers had not been told the written NABEP agreement would be provided before writing the letter and that the briefing was intended as a broader update on U.S. policy toward Venezuela, not specifically the oil deal.
And emails reviewed by Fox News Digital show the briefing postponement request itself came from a Republican majority staffer on the Foreign Relations Committee, who told State early Oct. 1 that “the Senate has left town” and asked to move the briefing until November.
A State Department official told Fox News Digital the staffer was acting on behalf of the full committee.
The congressional source said Republican leadership had ended legislative business for the week, with senators on both sides of the aisle preparing to leave Washington ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
The group of Democrat lawmakers demanding the briefing are challenging the legality and prudence of the Trump administration’s agreement with NABEP, which would give the Pentagon rights to a 35% stake in one of Venezuela’s largest oil producers.
Under the arrangement, the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital would receive rights to the stake through so-called penny warrants, while the State Department would receive preferential rights to purchase 20% of the company’s production at cost.
The unusual structure is part of the administration’s broader effort to revive Venezuelan oil production and expand U.S. economic influence after Nicolás Maduro’s ouster. Democrats argue the Pentagon may lack legal authority to take the stake and have raised questions about the administration’s vetting of NABEP and its leadership.
The administration argues the structure could generate substantial returns for the U.S. without requiring taxpayers to buy the stake up front. The White House has said the government’s 35% position could ultimately be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in equity and dividends if NABEP succeeds in developing the fields.
The deal could also give Washington a new source of relatively low-cost crude at a time when the administration is trying to increase global supply and bring down fuel prices. State would have the right to buy 20% of NABEP’s production at cost and the right of first refusal on the remaining output, which the administration says could help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and supply U.S. military and other sensitive needs.
The White House also says millions of barrels of additional Venezuelan production could eventually flow through U.S. refineries and be developed using American drilling equipment and infrastructure, generating investment and jobs in the United States.
NABEP produces roughly 220,000 barrels a day and has said it plans to more than double production to 500,000 barrels a day by late 2028. The administration is betting that private investment can revive fields that have suffered years of underinvestment and mismanagement.
The agreement is part of a much broader U.S. effort to remake Venezuela’s economy after the dramatic removal of Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.
On Jan. 3, U.S. forces carried out a military operation in Venezuela to capture Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and transport them to the United States to face federal charges. The administration has characterized the operation as a law enforcement mission supported by the military and has since made rebuilding Venezuela’s oil sector a central part of its stabilization strategy.
Interim leader Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, has remained in power while cooperating with Washington, even as Venezuela’s political transition remains unsettled and opposition figures continue pressing for elections.
The White House has described the NABEP agreement as part of a three-part strategy of stabilization, reconstruction and eventual democratic transition, arguing that restoring oil production is necessary to rebuild Venezuela’s economy and reduce the influence of China, Russia and other U.S. adversaries in its energy sector.
Senators Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., challenged both the legality and prudence of the deal in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Among their central questions is whether the Pentagon office being used to structure the investment has the legal authority to acquire an equity position in a foreign oil company. The senators also demanded the agreement itself, details about how State would pay for oil and information about the administration’s vetting of NABEP and its leadership.
“The proposed agreement is unlikely to reduce high energy costs for Americans, and it risks undermining the Venezuelan people’s transition away from a dictatorship,” the senators wrote.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of all four senators who signed the letter for comment.
The unusual Pentagon role has drawn scrutiny since the deal was announced. Rather than immediately purchasing shares with taxpayer money, the Office of Strategic Capital’s position is structured through penny warrants that give the government the right to acquire equity for a nominal price.
The Democratic senators argue that structure does not resolve the underlying legal question.
They contend the statute establishing the Office of Strategic Capital authorizes loans and loan guarantees but does not explicitly empower the Pentagon to acquire equity stakes in private foreign companies.
“It is unclear,” the lawmakers wrote, “why the American public should support this attempt to entangle the United States with a relatively unknown foreign oil company that lacks the capacity or credibility to develop oil fields of the magnitude described.”
The senators also raised concerns about NABEP Chairman Alejandro Betancourt, noting past money-laundering investigations involving the Venezuelan businessman. Betancourt has not been charged with a crime, and Rubio has previously said he is not under active U.S. investigation.
The dispute could form the basis for broader congressional scrutiny of one of the Trump administration’s most unconventional efforts to expand U.S. economic influence in Venezuela.
