The airstrikes were designed to damage the militia group’s ability to conduct future attacks, a defense official told POLITICO. The U.S. military alone carried out the operation, without the aid of allies.

However, Kirby said the U.S. conducted the strike “together with diplomatic measures, including consultation with Coalition partners.”

“The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and Coalition personnel,” Kirby said. “At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq.”

Reuters first reported the news.

The retaliatory strike comes more than a week after a dozen rockets believed to be linked to an Iran-backed militia group targeted coalition forces outside Irbil International Airport, killing one non-U.S. contractor and wounding nine more people, including five Americans.

Then on Saturday, at least four rockets struck Balad Air Base, which houses American contractors who provide support to Iraq’s fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, wounding one person.

And on Monday, two rockets fell near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, inside the Green Zone. No injuries or casualties were reported.

Biden initially faced criticism for not immediately pinning blame for the attacks on Iran, which has frequently carried out similar strikes against U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq. Some have been fatal.

The decision to strike in Syria instead of Iraq was likely made to avoid causing issues for the Iraqi government, which remains a partner in the counterterrorism fight against ISIS, said Mick Mulroy, former Pentagon official who oversaw Middle East issues. Mulroy advised the Biden team during the transition at the Pentagon.

The strikes were likely “calculated and scaled” to avoid any escalation, while sending a message that “Iran’s use of militias as proxies will not allow them to avoid responsibility,” Mulroy added.

Thursday’s strike came as the Biden administration strives to renew negotiations with Iran after former President Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, sparking escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran.

The U.S. maintains 900 troops in Syria and has no immediate plans to reduce the number, according to two other defense officials. The troops are there to support local forces fighting ISIS remnants, but also to serve as a buffer against Iranian influence.

During his interview with Baier, McConnell stopped short of offering his immediate support for Trump in what is likely to be a crowded Republican 2024 field. McConnell stressed that numerous other Republicans had also hinted their intentions of a 2024 presidential run.

“There’s a lot to happen between now and ’24,” McConnell said. “I’ve got at least four members that I think are planning on running for president, plus some governors and others. There’s no incumbent. It should be a wide-open race and fun for you all to cover.”

McConnell signaled his desire to move on from the 2020 elections and focus instead on retaking the House and Senate in 2022. When asked about Trump’s role in the Republican losses in the special elections for Georgia’s Senate seats, McConnell flatly said: “I don’t have any further observations to make about that. We’re looking forward.”

McConnell also rebuffed Trump’s attack against him that he was injuring the party’s prospects. McConnell maintained that there was no “civil war” within the party and that it remained competitive with Democrats in razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate.

The specter of a Trump run in 2024 continues to hover over the party, with the former president remaining popular among Republican voters. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) predicted on Tuesday that Trump would win the nomination in 2024 should he make another go at the White House.

“Based on that information,” she added, it’s “prudent that Capitol Police maintain its enhanced security posture until we address those issues going forward.”

Pittman said existing intelligence has underscored that insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol “weren’t only interested in attacking members and officers. They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation as to who was in charge of that legislative process.”

While authorities are aware of future attacks being discussed by the militia groups that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, it’s unclear how developed or serious the intelligence around those plans may be. President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress is not expected to be scheduled until after approval of his pandemic relief package.

Pittman, who took over the force after her predecessor resigned, raised the issue after she was pressed by multiple lawmakers as to when fencing, razor wire and National Guard units would be removed from the Capitol security posture. Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) said the enhanced measures “makes the seat of democracy look like a military base.”

The discussion came after Pittman also added new elements to the timeline of the lapses during the insurrection that have complicated the version of events told by Capitol security officials who resigned in the wake of the insurrection. Pittman said she pulled former chief Steven Sund’s phone records and confirmed he reached out to the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms at 12:58 p.m. and 1:05 p.m., respectively. Sund has told lawmakers that he first reached out at 1:09 p.m. — a timeline that one former sergeant-at-arms disputed in Senate testimony this week.

Pittman’s disclosure, made during a House Appropriations Committee subpanel hearing Thursday on the security fallout from last month’s riot, upends the timeline that Sund and other former top Capitol security officials provided to senators about security lapses. And it adds a new layer of confusion about how the communication breakdowns occurred as supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol.

Former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving told senators he did not hear from Sund until 1:28 p.m. and that no formal request for National Guard assistance was lodged until after 2 p.m. Pittman’s testimony appears to back up the narrative shared by Sund, who resigned shortly after violent insurrectionists threatened the presidential transfer of power.

That discrepancy between former officials’ recollections of their response is an early, defining element of the investigation into the handling of the insurrection. And Sund’s recollection appeared suspect, since video of Irving on the House floor at 1:09 p.m. seemed to confirm his account. But Pittman’s revelation suggests Sund may have reached out to Irving 11 minutes earlier than previously understood — and to Irving’s Senate counterpart, Michael Stenger, a few minutes after that.

Senators have requested phone records from the officials to nail down this aspect of the timeline.

On Thursday, Pittman and acting House Sergeant-at-Arms Timothy Blodgett echoed a refrain first advanced by other former officials to senators: that the security failures of Jan. 6 were the result of inadequate intelligence provided by the FBI, Homeland Security and other agencies, as opposed to a misreading of the available intelligence.

Lawmakers on the panel made clear they’re still furious about the apparent failure of the Capitol Police to fully safeguard Congress. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), chair of the Appropriations subcommittee, said he was incredulous that the agency was “so lacking and ill-prepared” for the violence that unfolded that day, particularly when many of the insurrectionists detailed their plans in plain sight on social media.

Ryan also noted that the intelligence security officials had, even if limited, still pointed to a risk of significant violence on Jan. 6. A last-minute request by Sund for more helmets underscored that he anticipated danger to officers, Ryan noted.

“I for one am at a loss to understand how your intelligence report — and then later as the mob walked 16 blocks, growing in size and aggressive demeanor — failed to impact the Capitol Police security posture,” Ryan said.

Beutler pressed Pittman and Blodgett about why House members were left stranded on the House floor even while the Senate was being evacuated.

House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said her view is that the Capitol Police Board — the four-member entity that oversees day-to-day Capitol security and includes the chief, the sergeants-at-arms and the architect of the Capitol — failed on Jan. 6 and has shown itself to be obsolete.

“It’s like your appendix. It’s just there. It doesn’t have any real function,” DeLauro said.

DeLauro also pressed Pittman for an update on the investigations into 35 officers for alleged misconduct on Jan. 6. Pittman said they’re still ongoing, though they typically last 60 to 90 days. Pittman committed to reporting the results out once they were reached.

In addition, Pittman confirmed that she considers the death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died by undisclosed causes shortly after the Jan, 6 insurrection, a “line of duty” death. But under questioning from Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.), Pittman declined to apply that same label to the death of Officer Howard Liebengood, who reportedly took his own life days after the attack.

“I can’t speak to that at this time, ma’am,” Pittman said. “It’s still under active investigation.”

Wexton pressed Pittman about the Capitol Police’s refusal to hold public press briefings in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack, and she urged Pittman to commit to holding them in the future. But Pittman declined.

“Not at this time,” Pittman said, adding that the agency had been focused internally on its employees’ well-being since the attack and on providing answers to lawmakers, rather than the public.

Ryan jumped in to say the Capitol Police had been communicating well with lawmakers but that “we also think the American people, and the press, need to hear directly from you.”