US Senate to Vote on Resolution to Limit Trump's Military Actions Against Venezuela

The United States Senate will decide this Wednesday whether to approve a war powers resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump's ability to perpetrate new military aggressions against Venezuela.

The initiative, driven by Democrats, received support from five Republican senators last week, constituting a political message of rejection of the invasion against Venezuela, the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, and the military deployment in the Caribbean.

Although the resolution is unlikely to become law—as it requires Trump's signature—the vote represents a test of loyalty within the Republican Party and a signal that even within its own ranks there are fractures regarding the president's foreign policy.

Trump has reacted furiously against the senators who supported the measure, publicly insulting Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins, and labeling the resolution as an attempt to "tie his hands" in his criminal campaign against Venezuela.

Trump defended the military aggression that culminated in the kidnapping of President Maduro, calling it "one of the most successful attacks" and asserting that it was an "extradition" action under charges of narco-terrorism.

The Trump administration has used various legal arguments to justify the intervention: from designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations to the narrative that the kidnapping of the Venezuelan constitutional President was a police, "law enforcement" operation.

In a classified briefing, senators reviewed the legal document supporting the operation, although several legislators, including Rand Paul, denounced that the arguments are weak and should be made public.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who initially supported the resolution, indicated he might change his vote after receiving assurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that "there will be no ground troops" in Venezuela and that constitutional requirements will be respected in case of new deployments. Months ago, Rubio and Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, lied to a group of congressmen by telling them there would be no military attack on Venezuela.

Other Republicans, such as Todd Young, appeared undecided, while Democrats insisted that Congress must exercise its oversight role against a President who has promised that the U.S. "will run Venezuela for years" and has issued military threats against other countries, such as Iran and Greenland.

Democratic leader Chuck Schumer noted that the vote is crucial to reaffirm that the Senate cannot become "irrelevant" in the face of the Executive branch's abuses of power.