Lawmakers urge an emergency War Powers vote as Trump threatens more illegal attacks and US control of Venezuela.<\/b>
\nMembers of the U.S. Congress on Saturday demanded emergency legislative action to prevent the Trump administration from taking further military action in Venezuela after the president threatened a \u201csecond wave\u201d of attacks and said the U.S. will control the South American country\u2019s government indefinitely.
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), said that \u201cCongress should vote immediately on a War Powers Resolution to stop\u201d President Donald Trump, whose administration has for months unlawfully bombed boats in international waters and threatened a direct military assault on Venezuela without lawmakers\u2019 approval.
\u201cTrump has no right to take us to war with Venezuela. This is reckless and illegal,\u201d said Casar. \u201cMy entire life, politicians have been sending other people\u2019s kids to die in reckless regime change wars. Enough. No new wars.\u201d
Another prominent CPC member, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), said in response to the bombing of Venezuela and capture of its president that \u201cthese are the actions of a rogue state.\u201d
\u201cTrump\u2019s illegal and unprovoked bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president are grave violations of international law and the U.S. Constitution,\u201d Tlaib wrote on social media. \u201cThe American people do not want another regime change war abroad.\u201d
Progressives weren\u2019t alone in criticizing the administration\u2019s unauthorized military action in Venezuela. Establishment Democrats, including Sen. Adam Schiff of California and others, also called for urgent congressional action in the face of Trump\u2019s latest unlawful bombing campaign.
\u201cWithout congressional approval or the buy-in of the public, Trump risks plunging a hemisphere into chaos and has broken his promise to end wars instead of starting them,\u201d Schiff said in a statement. \u201cCongress must bring up a new War Powers Resolution and reassert its power to authorize force or to refuse to do so. We must speak for the American people who profoundly reject being dragged into new wars.\u201d
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he will force a Senate vote next week on a bipartisan War Powers Resolution to block additional U.S. military action in Venezuela.
\u201cWhere will this go next?\u201d Kaine asked in a statement. \u201cWill the president deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal? To suppress Americans peacefully assembling to protest his policies? Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal authorization from people\u2019s elected legislature before putting servicemembers at risk.\u201d
\u201cIt is long past time for Congress to reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace, diplomacy, and trade,\u201d Kaine added. \u201cMy bipartisan resolution stipulating that we should not be at war with Venezuela absent a clear congressional authorization will come up for a vote next week.\u201d
The lawmakers\u2019 push for legislative action came as Trump clearly indicated that his administration isn\u2019t done intervening in Venezuela\u2019s internal politics \u2014 and plans to exploit the country\u2019s vast oil reserves.
During a press conference on Saturday, Trump said that the U.S. \u201cis going to run\u201d Venezuela, signaling the possibility of a troop deployment.
\u201cWe\u2019re not afraid of boots on the ground,\u201d the president said in response to a reporter\u2019s question, adding vaguely that his administration is \u201cdesignating various people\u201d to run the government.
Whether the GOP-controlled Congress acts to constrain the Trump administration will depend on support from Republicans, who have largely applauded the U.S. attack on Venezuela and capture of Maduro. In separate statements, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) described the operation as \u201cdecisive\u201d and justified.
Ahead of Saturday\u2019s assault, the Republican-controlled Congress rejected War Powers Resolutions aimed at preventing Trump from launching a war on Venezuela without lawmakers\u2019 approval.
One Republican lawmaker who had raised constitutional concerns about Saturday\u2019s actions, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, appeared to drop them after a phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
But Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) noted in a statement that both Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth \u201clooked every senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn\u2019t about regime change.\u201d
\u201cI didn\u2019t trust them then, and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress,\u201d said Kim. \u201cTrump rejected our constitutionally required approval process for armed conflict because the administration knows the American people overwhelmingly reject risks pulling our nation into another war.\u201d<\/p>\n