WH claims Jeffries didn’t pick up the phone to be alerted about Iran strikes

The White House on Monday insisted it called Dem House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to give him a heads-up about the airstrikes in Iran — but said he didn’t pick up the phone.

“First of all, we did make bipartisan calls,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told “Fox & Friends” — pushing back on what she called “fake news” reports that Democrats weren’t given advance notice about the attacks while also contending the administration wasn’t “obligated” to do so.

“The White House made calls to congressional leadership. They were bipartisan calls. In fact, Hakeem Jeffries couldn’t be reached,” Leavitt said of the New York pol.

She said a CNN report that claimed “the White House did not give a head’s up to Democrats is just completely false.”

A source familiar with Jeffries’ situation told The Post his office “received a … no-details notification” similar to what other Dems were given shortly before the strikes were announced.

The source said the notification came on an unsecure line and that Jeffries did not get key details or a fuller classified briefing about the strikes before they occurred. The pol’s office did not respond to a Post question about why Jeffries did not answer the call.

Jeffries then held a press conference Monday afternoon griping, “We haven’t gotten an initial briefing from the White House.

“All we received from the White House was a so-called courtesy call with no explanation as to the rationale for the decision that was taken that could have serious consequences for the American people.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) received a similar call but was essentially “given no details” about the strike, another source said.

Jeffries and Schumer are part of the so-called “Gang of Eight” congress members who receive highly sensitive intelligence briefings. The group is comprised of the top Democrat and Republican leaders and intelligence committee members of both chambers of Congress.

The Post has confirmed that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) were briefed before the strikes, although it wasn’t clear if they received the same alleged limited-information calls or more details.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was not given a head’s up even with a bare-bones call, according to his office.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) has implied that he was not given advance notice, either. The Post has reached out to his office for clarification.

“According to the Constitution, we are both sworn to defend, my attention to this matter comes BEFORE bombs fall,” Himes wrote on X on Saturday after the strikes were announced.

According to the Constitution we are both sworn to defend, my attention to this matter comes BEFORE bombs fall. Full stop. https://t.co/7yVk4x0jzl

— Jim Himes 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@jahimes) June 22, 2025

Leavitt fired back at critics, “The White House was not obligated to call anyone because the president was acting within his legal authority under Article II of the Constitution, as Commander in Chief of the President of the United States [sic].

“We gave these calls as a courtesy, and the Democrats are lying about this because they can’t talk about the truth of the success of that operation and the success of our United States military.”

Some rank-and-file members of Congress, such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), have groused that the full Congress should’ve been given the chance to weigh in on the strikes, which he called unconstitutional.

“He should be a Democrat, because he’s more aligned with them than with the Republican Party,” Leavitt said of Massie.

President Trump has vowed to back efforts to defeat Massie in his primary next year in the 2026 midterm election cycle. Massie is championing a measure in the House to rein in Trump’s war powers. A similar measure is circulating in the Senate.