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It's unclear whether House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was informed of the operation before it was carried out, but he did spend time with Trump this week at Mar-a-Lago and tweeted his support Friday morning.

Last night was a memorable and historic evening at Mar-a-Lago—the Winter White House. Proud of our President for taking decisive action! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/VjuChrZyOH

— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) January 3, 2020

Graham, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member as well as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- but not a member of the \"Gang of Eight\" -- also reinforced the administration's claim that Thursday's attack was of \"preemptive, defensive strike.\"

We killed the most powerful man in Tehran short of the Ayatollah.

This was not an act of revenge for what he had done in the past.

This was a preemptive, defensive strike planned to take out the organizer of attacks yet to come.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 3, 2020

Reactions from other members of Congress ranged from Democrats expressing concern over retaliation to Republicans praising the assassination.

Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut held a joint press conference in Hartford Friday in which they intended to focus on impeachment, but it was the assassination of Soleimani that dominated their remarks.

\"The question we have to ask ourselves today is whether Qasem Soleimani is more dangerous the United States alive – or dead as a martyr,\" said Murphy, a Foreign Relations Committee member. \"My guess is that the assassination of Soleimani will lead to greater harm to U.S. personnel, U.S. citizens and U.S. interests.\"

When asked if they believed the impending impeachment trial could have played a role in the decision to take out Soleimani, Murphy raised the prospect of \"ulterior motives.\"

\"Obviously, with this president you have to worry about ulterior motives. He has made it clear he is willing to use the national security tools at his disposal in order to advance his personal political priorities,\" he said. \"Iran is constantly planning attacks against USA interests in the region. The question is whether or not it was necessary to assassinate the second most powerful person in the region to stop those attacks\"

\"PHOTO:
Susan Haigh/AP
PHOTO: Sens. Richard Blumenthal, left, and Chris Murphy, speak during a press conference, Jan. 3, 2020, in Hartford, Conn., following the U.S. airstrike that killed Iran's top military commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, near near Baghdad's airport in Iraq.
>

Blumenthal, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, echoed the concerns of his colleague.

\"There is no question, no doubt that Soleimani was a bad actor, an enemy of the United States with American blood on his hands,\" he said. \"The concern I have now is American security, the safety of Americans in the region and around the world -- men and women in uniform, our diplomats and ordinary citizens.\"

Meanwhile, Republicans have touted the operation as an unqualified win.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., another Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, tweeted at least 20 times Friday explaining his support for Trump's decision.

\"Soleimani is directly responsible for previous & future plans to KILL U.S diplomats & American service members in Iraq & throughout the region. But some are so blinded by hatred of Trump that they argue he has done something sinister. Its crazy. Total derangement,\" he said on Twitter.

Iranian officials have warned the U.S. of \"vigorous vengeance\" and have swiftly moved to appoint a replacement.

ABC News' Mariam Khan, Trish Turner, Liz Alesse and Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.

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