GOP senators sink resolution to block potential strikes on Venezuela

Republican senators sunk a war powers resolution Thursday that would have blocked President Trump’s administration from potentially conducting military strikes inside Venezuela without the authorization of Congress, as the White House’s campaign against alleged drug-trafficking boats on both sides of South America persists. 

The joint resolution, which was introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) last month, was quelled in a 49-51 Senate vote Thursday. GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Rand Paul (Ky.) joined the Democrats in backing the measure. 

The resolution “directs the President to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces for hostilities within or against Venezuela, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force.” 

“We should not be in war without Congress,” Kaine said Thursday ahead of the vote. 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a defense hawk, argued on the Senate floor that the War Powers Act is a “constitutional infringement” on the president’s ability to conduct military operations since the law “takes away the ability to decide military matters and it resides with us.” 

“If you can terminate a commander in chief’s decision through the War Powers Act, then that constitutional authority has been taken by Congress and that would be a disaster for this country,” Graham said Thursday. 

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Thursday that he does not believe Americans want to “topple” the Venezuelan regime in “hopes that something better might follow.” 

“If the administration feels differently, let them come to the Congress and make the case,” Schiff said on the Senate floor. “Let them come before the American people and make the case. Let them seek an authorization to use force to get rid of [Venezuelan leader Nicolás] Maduro. But let us not abdicate our responsibility.” 

Kaine introduced the measure, which has 15 co-sponsors, in mid-October, shortly after Trump confirmed that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. 

Despite voting against Kaine’s resolution Thursday, Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said his vote is “not an endorsement of the Administration’s current course in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.”  

“As a matter of policy, I am troubled by many aspects and assumptions of this operation and believe it is at odds with the majority of Americans who want the U.S. military less entangled in international conflicts,” he said in a statement after the vote, emphasizing that while “no one has declared war on Venezuela, the creeping expansion of executive war-making—under presidents of both parties—without congressional input or oversight is dangerous.” 

The administration has gathered a massive presence of U.S. military force in the U.S. Southern Command region, including warships, fighter jets, spy planes and at least one nuclear-powered submarine.

Trump and other administration officials have turned up the pressure against Maduro, whom they have called an “illegitimate leader.” During his interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes," Trump signaled that Maduro’s days are numbered but did not confirm that U.S. military strikes in Venezuela are imminent. 

Schiff and Kaine introduced a similar resolution looking to halt the U.S. military’s strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, but the measure was voted down by GOP senators in early October.  

The U.S. military has conducted 16 strikes against the alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing at least 66 people whom the administration called “narco-terrorists.” Two people were repatriated to Ecuador and Colombia following a strike in mid-October. 

The White House argued Monday that it does not need Congress’s approval to continue the boat strikes because the attacks do not rise to the level of “hostilities” that would require the authorization from Capitol Hill, saying the operations are done “largely by unmanned aerial vehicles launched from naval vessels in international waters.” 

According to the War Powers Resolution of 1973, the president needs to halt military operations after 60 days if an authorization from Congress is not acquired, or the commander in chief can ask for a 30-day extension. The 60-day deadline since the administration first notified Congress of a strike against an alleged drug-trafficking boat passed on Monday. 

The Trump administration has been briefing congressional lawmakers in recent weeks as members have sought more information about the boat attacks. 

The latest briefing took place in the Senate on Wednesday, which was led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The briefing did not quell the concerns of some Democrats who are demanding more information about the operations. Others who attended the briefing expressed confidence in the work of the intelligence community and that lawmakers received a general overview of the process of how targets are picked. 

“What happens when there’s somebody nearby who may be innocent? These are the things that the DOD [Department of Defense] is used to thinking about, and we still haven’t gotten into that level of granularity. So again, I’m not too worried that they’re going to take out a fishing boat, because our intelligence community is very, very good, but I’m not confident that we know precisely who are in those boats and why they’re there,” Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told reporters Wednesday. 

“Are they U.S. persons, etc,” he added. “So that’s a level of fidelity we have.”