What is the story about?
Senate Republicans voted to dismiss a war powers resolution on Wednesday (January 14) that would have limited President Donald Trump's ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela after two GOP senators reversed course on supporting the legislation.
Trump put intense pressure on five Republican senators who joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week and ultimately prevailed in heading off passage of the legislation. Two of the Republicans — Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana — flipped under the pressure.
Vice President JD Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate on a Republican motion to dismiss the bill.
The outcome of the high-profile vote demonstrated how Trump still has command over much of the Republican conference, yet the razor-thin vote tally also showed the growing concern on Capitol Hill over the President's aggressive foreign policy ambitions.
Democrats forced the debate after US troops captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month. "Here we have one of the most successful attacks ever, and they find a way to be against it. It's pretty amazing. And it's a shame,” Trump said at a speech in Michigan on Tuesday. He also hurled insults at several of the Republicans who advanced the legislation, calling Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky a “stone cold loser” and Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine “disasters.” Those three Republicans stuck their support for the legislation.
Trump's latest comments followed earlier phone calls with the senators, which they described as terse. The President's fury underscored how the war powers vote had taken on new political significance as Trump also threatens military action to accomplish his goal of possessing Greenland.
The legislation, even if it had passed the Senate, had virtually no chance of becoming law because it would eventually need to be signed by Trump himself. But it represented both a test of GOP loyalty to the president and a marker for how much leeway the Republican-controlled Senate is willing to give to Trump to use the military abroad.
Republican leaders move to dismiss the bill
Republican Senate leaders are trying to defuse the conflict between their members and Trump, and move on quickly to other business. On Wednesday evening, they were moving to dismiss the measure under the argument that it is irrelevant to the current situation in Venezuela. That procedure was subject to a vote.
In a floor speech Wednesday morning, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S D, vented his frustration as he questioned whether this war powers resolution should be prioritised under the chamber's rules.
“We have no troops on the ground in Venezuela. We're not currently conducting military operations there,” he said. “But Democrats are taking up this bill because their anti-Trump hysteria knows no bounds.” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who has brought a series of war powers resolutions this year, accused Republicans of burying a debate about the merits of an ongoing campaign of attacks and threats against Venezuela.
"If this cause and if this legal basis were so righteous, the administration and its supporters would not be afraid to have this debate before the public and the United States Senate," he said in a floor speech.
Two Republicans reconsider
Hawley, who helped advance the war powers resolution last week, said that Trump's message during a phone call was that the legislation “really ties my hands." The senator said he had a follow-up phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio that was “really positive.” Hawley said that Rubio told him on Monday "point blank, we're not going to do ground troops.” The senator said he also received assurances that the Trump administration will follow constitutional requirements if it becomes necessary to deploy troops again to the South American country.
"We're getting along very well with Venezuela," Trump told reporters at a ceremony for the signing of an unrelated bill on Wednesday.
As senators went to the floor for the vote, Young also told reporters he was no longer in support. He said that he had extensive conversations with Rubio and received assurances that the Secretary of State will appear at a public hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Young also shared a letter from Rubio that stated the president will “seek congressional authorisation in advance (circumstances permitting)” if he engages in “major military operations” in Venezuela.
What is the War Powers Resolution?
Under the Constitution, Congress alone can declare war. But US presidents have long stretched their powers to use the might of the US military around the globe.
Ohio State University professor Peter Mansoor, a military historian and retired US Army colonel with multiple combat tours, said that the trend since World War II allows Congress to shirk responsibility for war and put all the risk on the president.
In the post-Vietnam War era, lawmakers tried to take back some of their authority over wartime powers with the War Powers Resolution of 1973. It allows lawmakers to hold votes on resolutions to restrict a president from using military force in specific conflicts without congressional approval.
“Politicians tend to like to evade responsibility for anything, but then this gets you into forever wars,” Mansoor said.
Trump's shifting rationale for military intervention
Trump has used a series of legal arguments for his campaign against Maduro.
As he built up a naval force in the Caribbean and destroyed vessels that were allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, the Trump administration tapped wartime powers under the global war on terror by designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
The administration has claimed the capture of Maduro himself was actually a law enforcement operation, essentially to extradite the Venezuelan president to stand trial for charges in the US that were filed in 2020.
In a classified briefing on Tuesday, senators reviewed the Trump administration's still undisclosed legal opinion for using the military for the operation. It was described as a lengthy document.
But lawmakers, including a significant number of Republicans, have been alarmed by Trump's recent foreign policy talk. In recent weeks, he has pledged that the US will “run” Venezuela for years to come, threatened military action to take possession of Greenland, and told Iranians protesting their government that “ help is on its way.” Senior Republicans have tried to massage the relationship between Trump and Denmark, a NATO ally that holds Greenland as a semi-autonomous territory. But Danish officials emerged from a meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Rubio on Wednesday, saying a "fundamental disagreement" over Greenland remains.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Trump's recent aggression amounted to a "dangerous drift towards endless war". More than half of US adults believe President Donald Trump has "gone too far" in using the US military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
House Democrats have also filed a similar war powers resolution and can force a vote on it as soon as next week.
Trump put intense pressure on five Republican senators who joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week and ultimately prevailed in heading off passage of the legislation. Two of the Republicans — Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana — flipped under the pressure.
Vice President JD Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate on a Republican motion to dismiss the bill.
The outcome of the high-profile vote demonstrated how Trump still has command over much of the Republican conference, yet the razor-thin vote tally also showed the growing concern on Capitol Hill over the President's aggressive foreign policy ambitions.
Democrats forced the debate after US troops captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month. "Here we have one of the most successful attacks ever, and they find a way to be against it. It's pretty amazing. And it's a shame,” Trump said at a speech in Michigan on Tuesday. He also hurled insults at several of the Republicans who advanced the legislation, calling Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky a “stone cold loser” and Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine “disasters.” Those three Republicans stuck their support for the legislation.
Trump's latest comments followed earlier phone calls with the senators, which they described as terse. The President's fury underscored how the war powers vote had taken on new political significance as Trump also threatens military action to accomplish his goal of possessing Greenland.
The legislation, even if it had passed the Senate, had virtually no chance of becoming law because it would eventually need to be signed by Trump himself. But it represented both a test of GOP loyalty to the president and a marker for how much leeway the Republican-controlled Senate is willing to give to Trump to use the military abroad.
Republican leaders move to dismiss the bill
Republican Senate leaders are trying to defuse the conflict between their members and Trump, and move on quickly to other business. On Wednesday evening, they were moving to dismiss the measure under the argument that it is irrelevant to the current situation in Venezuela. That procedure was subject to a vote.
In a floor speech Wednesday morning, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S D, vented his frustration as he questioned whether this war powers resolution should be prioritised under the chamber's rules.
“We have no troops on the ground in Venezuela. We're not currently conducting military operations there,” he said. “But Democrats are taking up this bill because their anti-Trump hysteria knows no bounds.” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who has brought a series of war powers resolutions this year, accused Republicans of burying a debate about the merits of an ongoing campaign of attacks and threats against Venezuela.
"If this cause and if this legal basis were so righteous, the administration and its supporters would not be afraid to have this debate before the public and the United States Senate," he said in a floor speech.
Two Republicans reconsider
Hawley, who helped advance the war powers resolution last week, said that Trump's message during a phone call was that the legislation “really ties my hands." The senator said he had a follow-up phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio that was “really positive.” Hawley said that Rubio told him on Monday "point blank, we're not going to do ground troops.” The senator said he also received assurances that the Trump administration will follow constitutional requirements if it becomes necessary to deploy troops again to the South American country.
"We're getting along very well with Venezuela," Trump told reporters at a ceremony for the signing of an unrelated bill on Wednesday.
As senators went to the floor for the vote, Young also told reporters he was no longer in support. He said that he had extensive conversations with Rubio and received assurances that the Secretary of State will appear at a public hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Young also shared a letter from Rubio that stated the president will “seek congressional authorisation in advance (circumstances permitting)” if he engages in “major military operations” in Venezuela.
What is the War Powers Resolution?
Under the Constitution, Congress alone can declare war. But US presidents have long stretched their powers to use the might of the US military around the globe.
Ohio State University professor Peter Mansoor, a military historian and retired US Army colonel with multiple combat tours, said that the trend since World War II allows Congress to shirk responsibility for war and put all the risk on the president.
In the post-Vietnam War era, lawmakers tried to take back some of their authority over wartime powers with the War Powers Resolution of 1973. It allows lawmakers to hold votes on resolutions to restrict a president from using military force in specific conflicts without congressional approval.
“Politicians tend to like to evade responsibility for anything, but then this gets you into forever wars,” Mansoor said.
Trump's shifting rationale for military intervention
Trump has used a series of legal arguments for his campaign against Maduro.
As he built up a naval force in the Caribbean and destroyed vessels that were allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, the Trump administration tapped wartime powers under the global war on terror by designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations.
The administration has claimed the capture of Maduro himself was actually a law enforcement operation, essentially to extradite the Venezuelan president to stand trial for charges in the US that were filed in 2020.
In a classified briefing on Tuesday, senators reviewed the Trump administration's still undisclosed legal opinion for using the military for the operation. It was described as a lengthy document.
But lawmakers, including a significant number of Republicans, have been alarmed by Trump's recent foreign policy talk. In recent weeks, he has pledged that the US will “run” Venezuela for years to come, threatened military action to take possession of Greenland, and told Iranians protesting their government that “ help is on its way.” Senior Republicans have tried to massage the relationship between Trump and Denmark, a NATO ally that holds Greenland as a semi-autonomous territory. But Danish officials emerged from a meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Rubio on Wednesday, saying a "fundamental disagreement" over Greenland remains.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Trump's recent aggression amounted to a "dangerous drift towards endless war". More than half of US adults believe President Donald Trump has "gone too far" in using the US military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
House Democrats have also filed a similar war powers resolution and can force a vote on it as soon as next week.
