In a significant move today, senators voted in favor of potentially curbing President Donald Trump’s authority to initiate military interventions in Venezuela without Congressional approval.
This development follows a war powers resolution championed by a bipartisan pair—Virginia Democrat Senator Tim Kaine and Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul—subsequent to the recent capture of Nicolas Maduro by U.S. Special Forces last Saturday.
The resolution achieved a narrow victory with a 52 to 47 vote, aided by support from Republicans such as Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Todd Young of Indiana, in addition to Senator Paul.
While this measure does not immediately bar Trump from executing military actions independently, it does aim to schedule a future vote to potentially limit his executive powers. The resolution still requires another vote to secure its final approval in the Senate.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Trump on Thursday, alleging the President is prepared to engage in an ‘endless war,’ and urged his Republican counterparts to join in halting Trump’s military endeavors.
Before the Senate’s decision, Kaine emphasized that his resolution was ‘not an attack on the [Maduro] arrest warrant.’ Instead, it asserts that any future deployment of U.S. troops in Venezuelan hostilities should be subject to a Congressional vote, as mandated by the Constitution.
Operation Absolute Resolve, the US raid that captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on January 3, was billed by the Trump administration predominantly as a law enforcement operation, not a military one.
Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat who was very vocal in his support of Trump’s actions in taking out Maduro, notably voted in favor of the war powers resolution.
Donald Trump, sitting in between CIA Director John Ratcliffe (left) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, watches footage of the capture of Nicolas Maduro at Mar-a-Lago on January 3
Democrat Senator Tim Kaine, of Virginia, pushed the latest vote on a war powers resolution
Kaine also stated Thursday that no one ‘has ever regretted a vote that just says, “Mr President, before you send our sons and daughters to war, come to Congress.”‘
‘That is a vote that no one has ever regretted and no one will ever regret,’ Kaine concluded.
War powers resolutions were also introduced last year in both the House and Senate to prevent the Trump Administration from declaring war on Venezuela without congressional approval after the strikes on Venezuelan drug boats.
In the Senate, a war powers resolution spurred by Arizona Democrat Ruben Gallego would set a 60-day deadline for Congress to formally approve the use of military forces after the administration notifies lawmakers of a conflict.
Trump issued that notification about Venezuela in early October, meaning the deadline has already expired.
In the House, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Democrats Jim McGovern and Joaquin Castro, as well as Republican Thomas Massie, argued last year that the administration has neither sought authorization for the use of military force against Venezuela nor offered a credible justification for the unauthorized strikes it has conducted against vessels in the region.
The government has also failed to publicly explain why the boats could not have been stopped and investigated, or why those on board could not have been apprehended and prosecuted instead of being targeted and killed without due process.
Massie notably introduced a war powers resolution against Trump after his strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June, but later withdrew it after Speaker Mike Johnson described his measure as a moot point following a ceasefire in the region.
