Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., in an effort to prevent President Donald Trump from unilaterally ordering military action against Venezuela.
“The Constitution gives Congress — and only Congress — the power to declare war. Trump’s illegal boat strikes and threats of land invasion in Venezuela are a clear overreach of power. I filed a bipartisan War Powers Resolution to stop Trump from starting another forever war,” Kaine said in a post on X.
The Trump administration has carried out multiple lethal strikes on what it says are drug-trafficking vessels used by suspected narco-terrorists, largely in the Caribbean.
Kaine expanded on his concerns in a written statement, arguing that the administration is edging the country toward a new conflict without transparency.
“Although President Trump campaigned on no more wars, he and his Administration are unilaterally moving us closer to one with Venezuela — and they are doing so without providing critical information to the American people about the campaign’s overall strategy, its legal rationale, and the potential fallout from a prolonged conflict, which includes increased migration to our border,” he said.
“The Administration claims that military action is needed to address the real scourge of drugs in our communities, but at the same time, pardons convicted narcotraffickers, slashes funding for substance use and drug court programs, and chooses against interdicting these alleged drug boats that would allow us to find and prosecute the kingpins responsible for trafficking drugs,” he continued. “We should not be risking the lives of our nation’s servicemembers to engage in military action within Venezuela without a robust debate in Congress. This is why the Framers gave the power to declare war to Congress, not the President.”
Paul echoed that argument, saying the public deserves a full debate before any escalation.
“The American people do not want to be dragged into endless war with Venezuela without public debate or a vote,” he said. “We ought to defend what the Constitution demands: deliberation before war.”
During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump blamed drug traffickers for U.S. drug-related deaths in the past year and claimed “those numbers are down” since his administration began striking suspected drug-smuggling boats.
“And we’re going to start doing those strikes on land too,” Trump told reporters. “The land is much easier. And we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live, and we’re going to start that very soon too.”
He reiterated that stance Wednesday when questioned about Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley’s decision in September to order a follow-up strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel, which killed two survivors of an initial attack. Bradley, who was serving as commander of Joint Special Operations Command at the time, was expected to brief members of Congress behind closed doors on Thursday about the mission.
“I think you’re going to find that this is war, that these people were killing our people,” Trump said, referring to Americans who have died from drugs he described as “poison.”
“I think you’re going to find that there’s a very receptive ear to doing exactly what they’re doing, taking out those boats,” he added, speaking of the War Department’s operations. “And very soon we’re going to start doing it on land, too, because we know every route, we know every house, we know where they manufactured this crap. We know where they put it all together. And I think you’re going to see it very soon on land also.”
Fox News Digital requested comment from the White House on Thursday.
“As President Trump has said, all options are on the table as he works to combat the scourge of narcoterrorism that has resulted in the needless deaths of thousands of innocent Americans each year,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.
“All of these decisive strikes have been in international waters against designated narcoterrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores. The cumulative impact of these hostile acts directly threaten the interests of the United States. Pursuant to his authority as Commander-in-Chief and Chief Executive to conduct foreign relations, the President has full authority to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country,” she added.
The joint resolution introduced by the four senators declares, in part, that “Congress hereby directs the President to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces for hostilities within or against Venezuela, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force.”
It further specifies that “Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the United States from defending itself from an armed attack or threat of an imminent armed attack.”
Kaine, Paul and Schiff put forward a similar proposal earlier this year, but that earlier attempt stalled when all but two Republicans — Paul and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — voted against moving the measure past a procedural hurdle.
