New bipartisan war powers resolutions presented this week in both the House and Senate seek to put the brakes on potential military action against Venezuela after U.S. President Donald Trump said a land campaign in the country would begin “very soon."
On Tuesday, Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), and Joaquín Castro (D-Texas) introduced legislation that would “direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.”
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced a bill with similar language, noting that “Congress has not declared war upon Venezuela or any person or organization within or operating from Venezuela, nor enacted a specific statutory authorization for use of military force within or against Venezuela.”
The war powers resolution is privileged under Senate rules, meaning it can be called for vote in 10 days, while the House lawmakers can force a vote on their version after 15 days.
U.S. forces have conducted at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since early September, killing at least 83 people as the Trump administration has deployed significant air and naval assets to the region in an attempt to pressure Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro to leave power.
“There are now dual war powers resolutions on a military intervention, or war with Venezuela, which is polling at around 70% disapproval with the American public,” Marcus Stanley, director of studies at the Quincy Institute, told RS. “This may be unprecedented.”
These are only the latest attempts to assert Congressional war powers on military operations in Latin America. In early October, a Democrat-led effort barring unauthorized strikes on boats purportedly carrying illegal drugs in the Caribbean failed by a 48-51 vote, with Senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) the lone Republicans to vote alongside every Democratic except for Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who opposed.
In early November, a new effort by Senator Kaine and 15 other co-sponsors, including Senator Paul, to block the administration from attacking Venezuela without Congressional approval, narrowly failed as well by a 49-51 tally, with Senator Fetterman switching his vote in favor.
Prior to the last Senate war powers resolution vote, the administration dispatched Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other top officials to assuage concerns from lawmakers, including Republican senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Mike Rounds (R.-S.D.) all of whom had expressed concerns about the legal rationale for the administration’s attack and broader approach. Ultimately, the three senators toed the party line, although Young clarified that the current operation “is at odds with the majority of Americans who want the U.S. military less entangled in international conflicts.”
Two related war powers resolutions introduced earlier this Fall in the House by Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.) were never brought to a vote.
“That these new resolutions address hostilities within Venezuela, but not the boat strikes specifically, is probably the political sweet spot,” Stanley notes, given the latter have been polling favorably among Republican voters, while a wide majority of Americans opposes the U.S. taking military action in Venezuela.
The renewed attempts to reign in the administration’s aggressive approach to combat drug trafficking and pressure Venezuela’s Maduro come as more Republican lawmakers have expressed concern that a second strike to kill survivors of one of the early September boat attacks might have been illegal.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said last Friday that their respective panels would be conducting “vigorous oversight” and taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the second “kill strike,” which the White House said Hegseth authorized.
While Trump confirmed that he recently spoke with President Maduro about ways to diffuse current tensions, the president also asserted on social media that Venezuelan air space should be considered closed, which is perceived to be a precursor to direct military operations in the country. The president then backtracked, saying people shouldn’t read too much into his post. At the same time, U.S. deportation flights to the South American country have continued this week, following an administration request for landing permission in Caracas Wednesday.
Nevertheless, the resolution co-sponsors say administration officials have not publicly detailed any formal policy or legal basis for the escalatory steps, which “could be interpreted as a hostile act under international law.”
“President Trump's pledge [this week] to begin strikes on Venezuelan territory 'very soon' should be the loudest alarm bell yet for our colleagues in Congress and our entire nation,” said Schiff. “We are being dragged into a war with Venezuela without legal basis or congressional authorization, and the Senate must be prepared to stop an illegal war that would needlessly place at risk thousands of American servicemembers. Americans do not want endless war.”
