The Senate on Thursday narrowly advanced out of committee a war powers resolution that would bar President Donald Trump from using U.S. armed forces in or against Venezuela without authorization from Congress, marking a rare bipartisan rebuke of the administration’s military actions.
The procedural vote passed 52–47, with five Republican senators—Rand Paul (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Todd Young (R-IN), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Josh Hawley (R-MO)—joining a united Democrat Senate contingent to move the measure forward for a vote on the Senate floor.
The resolution, spearheaded by Tim Kaine (D-VA) and co-sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Paul, would restrict the president’s ability to engage in further hostilities following recent U.S. military operations in Venezuela, including a raid this weekend that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Senators backing the measure argued it was necessary to uphold Congress’s constitutional authority over declarations of war and to prevent unilateral escalation in the region. “I’ve been consistent across presidents: only Congress has the power to declare war,” wrote Paul on the social media site X. “Whether it’s Venezuela, Libya, or anywhere else, decisions of war shouldn’t be left to one person.”
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