The Senate was voting on Thursday on a legislation that would check US President Donald Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela, as Democrats pressed Congress to take a stronger role in Trump’s high-stakes campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Lawmakers, including top Republicans, have demanded that the Trump administration provide them with more information on the US military strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean.
But Thursday’s vote, which would essentially forestall an attack on Venezuelan soil by first requiring congressional authorisation, was a significant test of GOP senators’ willingness to allow the Trump administration to continue its buildup of naval forces in the region. “We’re tired of Congress abdicating this most solemn power to a president,” said Senator Tim Kaine, the Virginia Democrat who introduced the resolution.
While the legislation has virtually no chance of being enacted, in part because it would need to be signed by Trump himself, it still allowed senators to go on the record with their concerns about the president’s public threats against Venezuela. US naval forces are building an unusually large force, including its most advanced aircraft carrier, in the Caribbean Sea, leading many to the conclusion that Trump’s intentions go beyond just intercepting cocaine-running boats.
“It’s really an open secret that this is much more about potential regime change,” said Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who also pushed the resolution. “If that’s where the administration is headed, if that’s what we’re risking -- involvement in a war -- then Congress needs to be heard on this.” Push for congressional oversight As the Trump administration has reconfigured US priorities overseas, there has been a growing sense of frustration among lawmakers, including some Republicans, who are concerned about recent moves made by the Pentagon.
At a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier Thursday, Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chair, said that many senators have “serious concerns about the Pentagon’s policy office” and that Congress was not being consulted on recent actions like putting a pause on Ukraine security assistance, reducing the number of US troops in Romania and the formulation of the National Defence Strategy. GOP senators have directed their ire at the Department of Defence’s policy office, which is led by Elbridge Colby, an official who has advocated for the US to step down its involvement in international alliances.
“It just seems like there’s this pigpen-like mess coming out of the policy shop,” said Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, during another armed services hearing earlier this week. As pushback has mounted on Capitol Hill, the Trump administration has stepped up its briefings on the campaign in the Caribbean, including sending both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to a classified briefing on Wednesday for congressional leaders on the strikes against vessels.
The officials gave details on the intelligence that is used to target the boats and allowed senators to review the legal rationale for the attacks, but did not discuss whether they would launch an attack directly against Venezuela, according to lawmakers in the meeting. Still, Democrats, joined by Republican Senator Rand Paul, have pushed into the unease among Republicans by forcing a vote on the potential for an attack on Venezuela under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which was intended to reassert congressional power over the declaration of war.
A previous war powers vote pertaining to the strikes against boats in international waters failed last month on a 48-51 vote, but Kaine said he was hoping to peel off more Republicans with a resolution that only pertains to attacks on Venezuela. Some Republicans uneasy with campaign The Republican leadership was pressing Thursday to make sure the legislation failed, and many GOP senators have expressed support for Trump’s campaign, which has killed at least 66 people in 16 known strikes.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is a Trump ally, argued in a floor speech that the War Powers Act gave lawmakers too much power over military decisions and that Congress has other means to check the president’s decisions. “I like the idea that our commander-in-chief is telling narco-terrorist organisations you’re not only a foreign terrorist organisation, but when you engage in threats to our country -- a boat headed to America full of drugs -- we’re going to take you out,” Graham said.But there were still several senators carefully considering their vote.
Just hours before the vote, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said she had carefully read over the Trump administration’s secret legal opinion on the strikes, but had not reached a decision.“It remains a difficult decision,” she said. Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would vote against the resolution, but added that he has had his doubts about the campaign.
