WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 51-50 on Wednesday to effectively block a resolution that would have prevented President Donald Trump from using military force in Venezuela without congressional approval after Trump flipped two Republican votes in recent days.
Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Todd Young, R-Ind., voted last week to advance the resolution to require Trump to seek prior approval from Congress to strike Venezuela.
But after Trump attacked and pressured them, they flipped their positions and voted with most Senate Republicans to remove “privilege” under the resolution, all but sinking it in the chamber.
The vote broke 50-50, and Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote to scuttle the war powers resolution.
Voting to move forward with the resolution Wednesday were the 47 Democratic members plus Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine. The measure, led by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., initially advanced 52-47 last week and appeared on track to pass.
The vote is another reminder of the skittishness among Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill about crossing Trump as he threatens further action in Venezuela and dials up his rhetoric and threats against Iran and Greenland. Last week, Trump trashed the five Republicans who voted to advance the resolution, saying they “should never be elected to office again.”
Hawley said he changed his mind after he received a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who assured him that there are no U.S. ground troops in Venezuela and that if the administration sought to put them there, “they would come to Congress for congressional authorization.”
In a statement, Young said: “After numerous conversations with senior national security officials, I have received assurances that there are no American troops in Venezuela. I’ve also received a commitment that if President Trump were to determine American forces are needed in major military operations in Venezuela, the Administration will come to Congress in advance to ask for an authorization of force.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who championed the war powers measure, said it was necessary to assert Congress’s role and put a check on the president.
“The American people don’t want Donald Trump sending our troops into harm’s way without so much as a debate in Congress,” he said before the vote. “Donald Trump is turning the Caribbean into a dangerous powder keg—and Congress must rein him in before one mistake ignites a larger, more unstable conflict. So, the Senate needs to exert its constitutional role when it comes to the use of military force.”
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