On Wednesday evening, a procedural maneuver by Republican Senator Jim Risch effectively halted a Senate vote aimed at limiting President Trump’s military authority in Venezuela. This move came after two Republican senators, who had previously opposed Trump, changed their stance.
As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Risch argued against the need for the war powers resolution, citing the absence of U.S. troops engaged in hostilities in Venezuela as a reason to dismiss it.
The procedural success was achieved after Senators Josh Hawley and Todd Young, who were among the five Republicans that had opposed Trump days prior, succumbed to pressure from the White House and reversed their positions.
Senator Hawley’s change was particularly notable. The Missouri senator, known for his populist stance, had initially voted in favor of advancing the resolution, which aimed to restrict Trump’s capacity to engage militarily in Venezuela without Congressional consent. His vote was instrumental in the resolution passing 52-47 last Thursday.
However, by Wednesday, Hawley had announced to Punchbowl News his decision to align with GOP leaders and block the resolution. He cited assurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who confirmed that no U.S. Armed Forces were currently in Venezuela and pledged to keep Congress informed of any military deployments.
Senator Todd Young from Indiana was also crucial in this shift. As another of the initial five Republican dissenters, Young’s vote was pivotal. When approached by reporters earlier in the day, he hinted at a forthcoming change in his stance, stating he would soon reveal more about his decision.
Hours before the vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune admitted he wasn’t sure if he had the votes to stop the War Powers resolution from passing. The turnabout also comes as the president has tempered his rhetoric on Iran, but continues to deliberate his options.
Trump had unleashed fury at the five Republican senators after last week’s procedural vote, naming Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Young and Hawley as members of Congress who ‘should never be elected to office again.’
This grab taken on January 3, 2026, from UGC footage released by Jose Abreu in his X account @Jabreu89, shows smoke billowing over Caracas after a series of explosions part of a US military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Madruo
President Donald Trump takes part in a signing ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 14 January 2026
The president described their move to restrain his military authority as one that ‘greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President’s Authority as Commander in Chief.’
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine argued Wednesday that even though troops aren’t currently in combat in Venezuela, Operation Absolute Resolve—the January 3 raid that captured dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife—isn’t necessarily over.
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Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) gestures toward a crowd of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of Chris Magnus to be the next U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington
The bipartisan war powers resolution, pushed by Kaine and Paul, came after US Special Forces captured Maduro earlier this month in an operation the Trump administration billed predominantly as law enforcement, not military action.
‘This is not an attack on the Maduro arrest warrant, but it is merely a statement that going forward, US troops should not be used in hostilities in Venezuela without a vote of Congress, as the Constitution requires,’ Kaine said last Thursday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of preparing for ‘endless war’ and urged Republicans to vote against the President’s actions.
Even Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat vocal in supporting Trump’s capture of Maduro, voted to advance the war powers resolution last week.
Kaine insisted no lawmaker ‘has ever regretted a vote that just says, ‘Mr President, before you send our sons and daughters to war, come to Congress.”
