U.S. Senate Republicans veto legislation to limit Trump's ability to attack Venezuela
Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation Thursday that would have put a check on U.S. 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 Nicolás Maduro.
Lawmakers, including top Republicans, have demanded that the Trump administration provide them with more information on the U.S. military strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.
But Thursday's vote, which would essentially prevent an attack on Venezuelan soil by first requiring congressional authorization, showed the lengths to which GOP senators are willing to go to allow the Trump administration to continue its buildup of naval forces in the region.
"President Trump has taken decisive action to protect thousands of Americans from lethal narcotics," said Sen. Jim Risch, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The legislation had virtually no chance of being enacted, in part because it would need to be signed by Trump himself, but it still allowed Democrats to press their GOP colleagues on Trump's threats against Venezuela. The legislation failed to advance 49-51.
"We should not be going to war without a vote of Congress. The lives of our troops are at stake," Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who pushed the legislation, said in a floor speech.
U.S. 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 Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who 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."
As the Trump administration has reconfigured U.S. priorities overseas, there has been a growing sense of frustration among lawmakers, including some Republicans, who are concerned about recent moves by the Pentagon.
At a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier Thursday, Sen. 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 U.S. 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.
"It just seems like there's this pigpen-like mess coming out of the policy shop," said Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, during another armed services hearing earlier this week.
As pushback mounts 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 Wednesday.
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 Sen. 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 48-51, 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 strikesRepublican leadership worled Thursday to ensure 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.
Sen. 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 organizations you're not only a foreign terrorist organization, 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.
Just hours before the vote, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she'd carefully read the Trump administration's secret legal opinion on the strikes, but had not reached a decision.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would vote against the resolution, but added that he's had his doubts about the campaign.
He pointed out that it was expensive to change the deployment location for an aircraft carrier and questioned whether those funds could be better used at the U.S.-Mexico border to stop fentanyl trafficking.
Tillis said that if the campaign continues for several months more, "then we have to have a real discussion about whether or not we're engaging in some sort of hybrid war."
Still, Democrats argued that the Trump administration was using a flimsy legal defense for an expansive military campaign that is putting U.S. troops and the nation's reputation at risk.
Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services, charged that Trump is engaging in "violence without a strategic objective" while failing to take actions that would actually address fentanyl smuggling. "You cannot bomb your way out of a drug crisis," he said.
Yet Kaine also acknowledged that there was also some risk in forcing the vote because it could give a tacit greenlight to Trump to launch an outright attack.
"Congress has got to just stand up and be counted — or not," he said.
cbc.ca
