Senate Republicans vote down legislation to limit Trump’s ability to
attack Venezuela
[November 07, 2025]
By STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation
Thursday that would have put a check on 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, on legislation that would
essentially forestall an attack on Venezuelan soil without congressional
authorization, suggested Republicans are willing to give Trump leeway to
continue his 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.
Still, the vote allowed Democrats to press their GOP colleagues on
Trump’s threats against Venezuela. The legislation failed to advance
49-51, with Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska the
only Republicans voting in favor.
The U.S. is assembling an unusually large force, including its most
advanced aircraft carrier, in the Caribbean Sea, leading many to
conclude that Trump intends to go beyond just intercepting
cocaine-running boats. The campaign so far has killed at least 69 people
in 17 known strikes, the latest carried out Thursday against a boat in
the Caribbean.
“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.”
Some Republicans are uneasy with Caribbean campaign
Republican leadership pressed Thursday to make sure the legislation
failed, but several senators still carefully considered their vote.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, another Republican who
voted against the resolution, said that he still has 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.”
Sen. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican, said in a statement that he
voted against the legislation because he didn’t believe it was
“necessary or appropriate at this time.”
But he added that he was “troubled by many aspects and assumptions of
this operation and believe it is at odds with the majority of Americans
who want the U.S. military less entangled in international conflicts.”
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The push for congressional oversight
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 made 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
Defense Strategy.
GOP senators have directed their ire at the Department of Defense's
policy office, which is led by Elbridge Colby, an official who has
advocated for the U.S. 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 Sen. 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 outreach to lawmakers. Secretary of State Marco
Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a classified briefing
for congressional leaders 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 have tested the unease among Republicans by forcing
the 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 also failed last month on a 48-51 vote, but Sen. Tim Kaine of
Virginia, who pushed the legislation, said he still plans to force
more votes.
“We should not be going to war without a vote of Congress. The lives
of our troops are at stake,” Kaine said in a floor speech.
Democrats also 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 Armed Services panel, 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.
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