U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, D-Missouri, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill on Saturday, June 28, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON – Vice President J.D. Vance broke a tie vote in the Senate to block passage of a war powers resolution that would stop President Donald Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional approval.
Senate Republicans used a procedural maneuver Wednesday night to stop debate on the Vietnam War era statute this allows Congress to check the president’s deployment abroad.
Sense. Todd Young of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri discarded their previous votes to support the resolution, splitting support 50-50 and ensuring the victory for Trump, who has sharply criticized Republican senators who had previously left the administration.
Sense. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted to keep the effort in the Senate. Paul is the only Republican co-sponsor of the bill. The lead Democratic co-sponsor was Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Young said while he “strongly” believes Congress must be involved in any decisions regarding U.S. military involvement, administration officials have assured him that is not the current state of affairs in Venezuela.
(*2*) Young said in a written statement after casting his vote.
The occasional reprimand does not last long
The vote came less than a week after Young and Hawley were among five Senate Republicans who broke with party ranks to advance the measure past an initial procedural hurdle – a occasional reprimand Trump from some members of his own party.
Trump lashed out at five GOP senators after they voted, writing on his Truth Social platform that the lawmakers “should never be elected to office again.”
Senate Republicans argued that the resolution to halt Trump’s military actions against Venezuela was not significant because “there are no troops there, there is nothing to end,” as Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch said on the floor before the vote.
“I know some of my colleagues will argue that voting for this resolution is a potential statement about limiting future actions in Venezuela. That’s not what it says. They’re saying ‘we still have ships in the Caribbean and clearly the president is ready to invade again,’ they say. But again, that’s not what the resolution says. … Nothing in this resolution refers to future action,” said Risch, R-Idaho, who introduced the motion in regarding this measure.
The vote took place 11 days after US special forces detained Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in their bedroom in a surprise overnight raid. The pair were wanted by US authorities on federal drug and conspiracy charges.
The vote also comes after a month-long campaign of small-boat bombings in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, during which U.S. Southern Command says more than 115 alleged “narco-terrorists” have been killed in U.S. attacks.
An hour before senators voted to block any progress on the war powers resolution, Trump posted on social media that he “had a very good conversation” with Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday morning.
“We are making great progress in helping Venezuela stabilize and rebuild. Many topics were discussed, including oil, minerals, trade and, of course, national security. This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be spectacular FOR ALL. Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more than ever before!” Trump wrote on his own platform, Truth Social.
Trump hosted oil executives at the White House on Friday for a meeting on potential investments in the Venezuelan oil industry. Before the meeting, the president announced that the South American nation had already agreed to donate 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. Trump said he would control the money from the sale.
“We are very committed”
Paul and the Democratic sponsors of the war powers resolution strongly disagreed with GOP statements about the U.S. presence in and around Venezuela.
“You don’t have to be a huge military expert to know that we’re very committed,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said before the vote.
“Donald Trump says we are not engaged in hostilities? Tell that to the 16,000 U.S. service members currently deployed in the Caribbean. Tell that to our service members in the Ford Carrier Strike Group. Look at the Marine Expeditionary Force operating in the region,” Schumer said. “Donald Trump is turning the Caribbean into a dangerous powder keg and Congress must stop him before one mistake ignites a larger, more unstable conflict.”
Kaine likened the Republicans’ procedural move to a “parliamentary rule of silence on the discussion of this military operation.”
“If this case and the legal basis were so just and lawful, the administration and its supporters would not be so afraid of having this debate in front of the public and the United States Senate,” Kaine said on the floor before the vote.
Paul said the administration’s claim that Venezuela is not an official war is “absurd.”
“To invade another country, blockade a country and remove the leader of another country, in my opinion, is war,” Paul said on the floor before the vote.
U.S. Southern Command declined on Wednesday to confirm the exact number of troops and warships in the region.
According to multiple media outlets that carried the announcement, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said more than 100 people were killed in the raid. video his statements. The Cuban government announced on Facebook Among the dead were 32 of its citizens.
According to the Pentagon, seven American soldiers were injured in the attack. Five returned to work within days of the attack, and as of January 8, two were still recovering. Pentagon officials declined to comment further Wednesday on their conditions.
