The Senate on Thursday voted down an effort to block President Donald Trump from conducting strikes against alleged drug smugglers off the coast of Venezuela without congressional approval.
The War Powers Resolution, introduced by Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, failed to pass the upper chamber 51 to 49, just a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth briefed top congressional members on the strikes — which some Democrats claimed lacked details on the operations. The resolution would have requiredTrump “to terminate the use of” U.S. armed forces “for hostilities within or against Venezuela,” citing a lack of congressional approval to authorize military involvement in the region.
Two Republican Senators joined Kaine’s effort, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky. The resolution was cosponsored by Paul and Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff.
The vote was held on the 37th day of the government shutdown, which Kaine, Paul and Schiff all voted to prolong 14 times.
At least 67 people have been killed in the 16 strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific since Sept. 2.
Trump confirmed he authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to carry out covert lethal operations inside Venezuela on Oct. 16, prompting Kaine to introduce his legislation the same day. The administration has since moved about 10% of its naval power into the region, according to Foreign Policy, including USS Gerald R. Ford – the most powerful warship in the U.S. military.
Kaine’s bill cites the CIA’s involvement in Venezuela and the increased presence of U.S. forces and operations in the region, and includes statements from officials indicating planned action in Venezuela will lead to “imminent involvement” of the U.S. military to possibly induce regime change.
In a pen and pad session with reporters on Thursday, Schiff asked, “Why all the firepower in the Caribbean?”
“You’re bringing in one of the largest warships in the world because you’re concerned about small drug running boats,” Schiff said. “I think it’s really an open secret that this is much more about potential regime change, and if that’s where the administration is headed, if that’s what we’re risking and along with it, a war, then Congress needs to be heard on this.”
Kaine saw another one of his efforts to prevent U.S. strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela blocked in October, and also received only two Republican votes.
“We’re here with this resolution this afternoon because we’re tired of abdication. We’re tired of Congress abdicating this most solemn power to a president,” Kaine told reporters at the pen and pad Thursday. “There’s a solution to this. Anybody in Congress who thinks we ought to be bombing ships in the Caribbean and Pacific, introduce an [Authorization for the Use of Military Force] and have a debate and vote on it out here.”
Recent polling also suggests Venezuela socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s hypothetical departure through a military operation would be welcomed by much of Latin America.
María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader that recently won a Nobel Peace Prize, told Bloomberg, “I believe that this escalation is the last opportunity for those that still support Maduro to understand that they need to take all support away from him — and Maduro himself to understand that this is the last chance to truly facilitate a peaceful and orderly transition, which is what we want, which is what we fought for.”
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