After President Donald Trump’s attack on Venezuela, Democrats publicly criticized him for starting a war without approval from Congress and Republicans privately grumbled that he did not notify them in advance.
The monthslong massing of U.S. forces in the Caribbean was hardly a secret — and Congress had plenty of chances to try to block an attack in advance.
“Everything here is extraordinarily illegal, and Congress has a mechanism to stop it.”
Since the Trump administration began striking alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean in September, there have been four failed votes on resolutions seeking to stop unauthorized attacks on either the boats strikes or Venezuelan soil. They all fell short.
Lawmakers are now preparing for another vote this week on a resolution in the Senate, their latest opportunity to pump the brakes.
“We have had the violation of international law, the U.N. charter, the violation of the territorial integrity of Venezuela, and the kidnapping of a sitting head of state, without going to Congress, without telling Congress beforehand,” said Heather Brandon-Smith, the legislative director of foreign policy for the Friends Committee on National Legislation. “Everything here is extraordinarily illegal, and Congress has a mechanism to stop it through voting for these war powers resolutions.”
Four Failed Votes
Every member of Congress has had two opportunities to cast their vote on military action in or around Venezuela. Two resolutions each have come up for a public vote in the House and Senate.
The first round of debate came on October 8, when Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., sponsored a resolution aimed at blocking more of the strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats that had begun a month before.
Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, were the only Republicans to vote for the measure, while Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., broke with the rest of the Democratic caucus to oppose it.
In the weeks that followed, the Trump administration assembled an armada in the Caribbean. Top officials, however, insisted that they were only interested in blowing up boats, not toppling Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro.
On November 6, the Senate voted on whether to block Trump from attacking Venezuela itself without congressional authorization. This time, Fetterman voted for the resolution. The measure still failed because it did not attract Republican support besides Paul and Murkowski.
MAGA’s antiwar caucus remained a paper tiger on December 17, when the House voted down two resolutions aimed at blocking boat strikes and war with Venezuela. The resolution aimed at blocking war failed on a mostly party-line vote. Only three Republican lawmakers supported it, while Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas was the sole Democrat opposed.
Even if those resolutions had passed both chambers, they would have faced an uphill battle to survive a veto from Trump. Still, they would have sent a powerful message to the White House, their supporters argue.