Senate Republicans Block War Powers Resolution Limiting Trump’s Venezuela Authority

Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to dismiss a war powers resolution that would have restricted President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further military operations against Venezuela, after intense pressure from the White House led two key GOP senators to reverse their previous support for the measure.

Vice President JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 deadlock on the Republican motion to dismiss the bill, demonstrating Trump’s continued influence over the Republican conference while also revealing growing concerns among lawmakers about the president’s assertive foreign policy actions.

The legislation emerged after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month. Democrats pushed for the debate following Trump’s recent statements about the U.S. “running” Venezuela and amid concerns about potential military escalations elsewhere, particularly his threats regarding Greenland.

“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. The president didn’t hold back criticism of Republicans who supported the resolution, calling Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky a “stone cold loser” and describing Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine as “disasters.”

Trump had personally called several Republican senators who initially supported advancing the measure. Those conversations, described as terse by the lawmakers, highlighted the political significance the White House placed on defeating the resolution as Trump continues to threaten military action to accomplish other foreign policy goals, including his stated desire to possess Greenland.

While the resolution had virtually no chance of becoming law—as it would have ultimately required Trump’s signature—it represented both a test of Republican loyalty to the president and a barometer for how much latitude the GOP-controlled Senate is willing to give Trump on military matters abroad.

Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana, who had initially supported advancing the resolution, changed their positions after conversations with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Hawley said Trump’s message during their phone call was that the legislation “really ties my hands.” The senator added that he received assurances from Rubio that “we’re not going to do ground troops” and that the administration would follow constitutional requirements if further military action became necessary in Venezuela.

Young similarly cited extensive conversations with Rubio and shared a letter from the secretary stating the president would “seek congressional authorization in advance (circumstances permitting)” before engaging in “major military operations” in Venezuela.

The Trump administration also released a heavily redacted 22-page Justice Department memo outlining the legal justification for the operation against Maduro. The document indicated “there is no contingency plan to engage in any substantial and sustained operation that would amount to a constitutional war,” according to Assistant Attorney General Elliot Gaiser.

Critics have noted the administration’s shifting legal arguments regarding Venezuela. The White House initially described its military build-up in the Caribbean as a counternarcotics operation, designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations to invoke wartime powers. Later, officials characterized the capture of Maduro as a law enforcement operation to bring him to stand trial on U.S. drug trafficking charges filed in 2020.

“The bait and switch has already happened,” Senator Paul said, criticizing the administration for now highlighting Venezuela’s vast oil reserves as justification for maintaining pressure on the country.

Congressional anxiety over Trump’s recent foreign policy pronouncements extends beyond Venezuela. In recent weeks, the president has pledged that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela for years, threatened military action to acquire Greenland from Denmark, and told Iranian protesters that “help is on its way.”

High-ranking Republicans have attempted to smooth relations between Trump and Denmark, a NATO ally that governs Greenland as a semi-autonomous territory. However, Danish officials emerged from meetings with Vance and Rubio on Wednesday stating that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains unresolved.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune defended the motion to dismiss the resolution, arguing, “We’re not currently conducting military operations there. But Democrats are taking up this bill because their anti-Trump hysteria knows no bounds.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer countered after the vote, saying, “What happened tonight is a roadmap to another endless war.”

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who has introduced several war powers resolutions this year, accused Republicans of avoiding a substantive debate about military actions 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.

Kaine has pledged to force votes on additional war powers resolutions addressing other potential military conflicts, including Greenland. House Democrats have filed a similar resolution that could come to a vote as early as next week.

According to a recent AP-NORC poll, more than half of U.S. adults believe President Trump has “gone too far” in using the military to intervene in other countries.