The U.S. Senate voted 52-47 to block President Donald Trump from further military action in Venezuela, less than a week after Trump authorized a strike that captured the country’s leader, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. The move came as a result of a War Powers Resolution, which requires the president to seek congressional approval before using the U.S. military again in Venezuela.<\/p>\n
The measure was brought by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and it only needed a simple majority to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate. The resolution would require Trump to obtain congressional approval before taking any further military action in Venezuela. U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) speaks with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), as Lori Chavez-DeRemer, U.S. President Trump\u2019s nominee to be secretary of labor testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 19, 2025.<\/p>\n
Trump responded to the vote by criticizing the five Republican senators who helped Democrats pass the measure. “Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The five GOP senators \u2014 Paul, Susan Collins of Maine, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Indiana’s Todd Young \u2014 “should never be elected to office again,” Trump wrote.<\/p>\n
Collins, responding to Trump’s post, told reporters on Capitol Hill, “I guess that means he would prefer to have [Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet] Mills or somebody else with whom he’s not had a great relationship.” Paul stated, “Make no mistake, bombing another nation’s capital and removing their leader is an act of war plain and simple. No provision in the Constitution provides such power to the presidency.”<\/p>\n
The Constitution vests Congress with the authority to declare war, and Trump’s allies in Congress have contended that he did not need to consult Congress on the strike that captured Maduro, which they say was a law enforcement operation. Maduro is now facing drug-related charges in New York.<\/p>\n
The Senate shot down a similar resolution in November, after only two Republicans \u2014 Paul and Murkowski \u2014 joined all Democrats in voting for it. Trump engaged in a monthslong military buildup around Venezuela before the action that captured Maduro. Collins stated, “While I support the operation to seize Nicolas Maduro, which was extraordinary in its precision and complexity, I do not support committing additional U.S. forces or entering into any long-term military involvement in Venezuela or Greenland without specific congressional authorization.”<\/p>\n