Leading Republicans in Congress appear to largely agree that President Donald Trump has broad authority to initiate military actions, whenever and wherever he deems necessary. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan commented to the Daily Mail, “He’s the commander in chief,” when questioned about Trump’s ability to strike any nation he chooses. Jordan, representing Ohio, expressed support for Trump’s actions in Venezuela, saying, “I think what he did in Venezuela is a good thing.” However, when asked if Trump possesses unlimited power to launch strikes globally, Jordan suggested there would be a process, stating, “The president could make his case, and we’d go from there.”

President Trump did not seek Congressional approval before executing military actions against Venezuela to oust its former leader, Nicolas Maduro, nor did he request it for potential strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites earlier this year. These decisions were made independently by Trump, though he did receive input from his Cabinet. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, speaking to the Daily Mail, affirmed that these actions fall under the president’s constitutional rights. “Based upon his Article II authority, if there’s a credible and imminent threat to the United States of America, absolutely yes,” said Mast, a Republican from Florida, supporting the president’s prerogative to target any location globally if deemed necessary.

Regarding Trump’s implied threats to target nations with significant drug production, such as Mexico, Congress appears unconcerned about restraining the president’s potential military actions. “They’re on the menu,” Mast remarked about Mexico. He speculated on the likelihood of military actions there, comparing it to Cuba, “I think it’s a coin flip between them and people in Cuba.” Mast highlighted the dangers in Mexico by recounting a personal story about a friend who disappeared there, stressing the longstanding risks in the country. “Long story short, they found him like six months later, divided up into a couple separate garbage bags,” he shared, illustrating the perilous environment.

Trump said Thursday that the cartels are ‘running Mexico’ and soon the US will start hitting land targets there. ‘We are going to start now hitting land with regard to the cartels,’ he said. ‘The cartels are running Mexico, it’s very sad to watch, to see what’s happening to that country.’ Outside of a select number of Republicans and mostly all the Democrats, there seems to be little appetite on the right to hold Trump back from launching additional strikes.

However, the Senate voted to curb his ability to engage in further military actions in Venezuela during a procedural move this week. Still, the move to restrict Trump will need another vote in the Senate and yet another in the House to become law and meaningfully hamper the president’s war powers. The odds of that happening are slim – though there are some Republicans who want to limit Trump.

Ohio Republican Rep. Mike Turner, who formerly headed the House Intelligence Committee before Trump demanded Speaker Mike Johnson to remove him, told the Daily Mail ‘no’ Trump does not have the authority to strike anywhere at will. Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a possible 2028 presidential candidate, said the founding fathers did not intend for one person to have sole power over launching wars. ‘The Constitution is specifically designed to avoid an instance where any one branch has unilateral power, and most specifically that the President himself does not have power to just launch any war with any person whenever he feels like it, that this is something that we must do as a with consensus as a nation,’ she told the Daily Mail.