Sen. Rand Paul joined with Sens. Mike Lee, Chris Murphy and Al Franken to request a "classified briefing" on a raid in Yemen. | Getty Bipartisan group of senators demand Yemen briefing

A bipartisan group of four senators is demanding a briefing on the U.S. military’s objectives in Yemen, as new details emerge about a Navy SEAL raid that left one U.S. service member and a number of civilians dead.

Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah have joined Democrats Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Al Franken of Minnesota to request “a classified briefing” from the Trump administration on “our actions and objectives” in Yemen.


The four senators have been critical of U.S. policies toward Yemen in the past, criticizing U.S. weapon sales to Saudi Arabia that the Saudis have used in a military campaign in Yemen that has exacerbated a humanitarian crisis there.

“Events of the last two weeks underscore the complexity and the risks of our involvement in Yemen, and we believe a detailed report to Congress from the Department of Defense, Department of State, and the Intelligence Community about U.S. policy there is necessary,” the senators wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and acting Director of National Intelligence Michael Dempsey.

Last week, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) wrote to Mattis requesting a briefing on the Yemen raid for the House Armed Services Committee.