Senate advances war powers resolution on Venezuela
The Senate advanced a measure to block the use of troops in Venezuela Thursday morning.
The measure was approved on a vote of 52-47, after five Republicans voted with Democrats, ensuring a later vote for final passage on the measure that would require President Donald Trump to get permission from Congress to send troops to Venezuela.
The measure has little chance of becoming law because Trump would have to sign it if it were to pass the House, but it’s still a significant gesture that shows unease among some Republicans after the U.S. military seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid. If the measure passed, the president would have to ask Congress to send troops into the country.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins from Maine, Josh Hawley from Missouri, Rand Paul from Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and Todd Young from Indiana supported the measure.
Sen. Michael Bennet and Sen. John Hickenlooper, Colorado Democrats, also voted for it, with Bennet co-sponsoring the legislation.
In a statement, Bennet said the Trump administration’s plan to run Venezuela and use the country’s oil for economic purposes is not a legitimate justification for keeping 15,000 troops off Venezuela’s coast or sending in troops.
“Congress must reassert our constitutional authority to stop the President’s lawlessness,” he said.
He called on the Senate to pass the measure as soon as possible. The Senate adjourned Thursday and will not reconvene until the Monday afternoon.
Hickenlooper said in a statement that U.S.-sponsored regime change in Venezuela opened the door to another forever war, a conflict that Americans do not want.
“Americans don’t want their government spending millions of dollars to ‘run Venezuela,’” Hickenlooper said.
President Donald Trump called out all the Republicans who supported the measure on social media, saying they should not be elected again.
“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats,” he wrote, also noting that it impedes his authority as commander in chief.
Members of the House introduced a War Powers resolution Thursday as well.
Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, D-Aurora, was a sponsor of the measure and said during a news conference he was “pretty damn hot” that Trump and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller were starting to “bang the war drums.” Crow shared his thoughts after attending a classified briefing on Venezuela by Trump administration officials.
“Americans are done with sending our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters to fight endless quagmire nation-building wars on behalf of elites and oil executives, and to shed blood year, after year, after year,” he said.
Crow noted that in Iraq and Afghanistan, the generals and admirals would say they needed one more year, one more surge. After 20 years, thousands of lives and trillions of taxpayers’ dollars later, the wars were a failure, he said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week that the U.S. would use oil sanctions as leverage to encourage the Venezuelan government to work with the U.S. on its priorities in the country, such as combating drug trafficking. He also expects the U.S. to stay engaged and guide a transition in the country to open up the economy and allow new leadership to take over.
Earlier this week, Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, was sworn in to lead the country.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

