Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer revealed that all Senators would receive a briefing regarding the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed the U.S. last week. The U.S. is currently dealing with the aftereffects of the balloon being shot down.
On Thursday, all senators are expected to be a part of a briefing. Initially, the meeting was scheduled for Feb. 15 according to a spokesperson for the New York Democrat, but it was later revealed that the briefing had already been scheduled for an earlier day.
Schumer during a news conference said that the briefing would be given by the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment. Schumer himself already received one briefing on Sunday, only one day after the balloon had been brought down off the South Carolina coast.
Schumer revealed that senators were expecting to be briefed both on the balloon and on what the foreign policy that will be followed with China is going to look like.
The Gang of Eight, which is a bipartisan group of leaders who had access to classified briefings, was also expected to have a private briefing on Tuesday.
During the news conference, Schumer also opposed the Republican claims that the balloon should have been shot down earlier and instead praised the administration for being “calm, calculating, effective” by working to bring the balloon down while minimizing the potential damage.
The balloon had been brought down over water because of fears of the damage that the debris could cause if it had been shot while overland. Schumer added that by collecting the debris from the balloon the U.S. would gain valuable information on what China is currently up to.
