The Senate is trying to limit Trump in Venezuela, with the help of 5 Republicans

Washington – After two previous failed attempts, the Senate moved forward Thursday on reducing President Trump’s impeachment power in Venezuela as the American leader continues to take partial steps for the South American country.

The Senate voted 52 to 47 to advance the military power resolution, days after the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife during a nighttime attack that surprised not only the former president, but also Congress.

Five Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting the measure. GOP senators who voted to vote include, Todd Young of Indiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri.

Mr. Trump has long mocked international strikes against Venezuela amid a months-long military operation against alleged drug-trafficking boats at sea that has killed more than 100 people. Mr. Trump has not ruled out further military action. He said the US would “manage” the country for now and control oil sales after Saturday’s strikes, which were carried out as part of a campaign to capture Maduro and bring him to the US to face charges.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, presented his latest decision in early December, after revealing that the US had killed two survivors of the first strike on September 2 in the Caribbean Sea.

Kaine’s measure would require “the withdrawal of the United States Army from a war in or against Venezuela not authorized by Congress.”

“A display from management [is] that this is not a few days or a few weeks, almost a few years of US activity and involvement in this country,” Kaine said Wednesday on the Senate floor. “This is not an arrest warrant. This is much bigger than that.”

Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, held briefings with top law enforcement officials on Tuesday about last weekend’s actions in the region. They held similar briefings for all members of Congress on Wednesday.

Democrats left those briefs unsatisfied with the answers they received about what happened next.

The attack on boats and the capture of Maduro and his removal from the US have alarmed legal experts and law enforcement officials, some accusing the Trump administration of committing war crimes, lying about their intentions to change the regime and lead the US to war without the approval of Congress.

“I think bombing the capital and removing the head of state is, by all means, war,” Paul, the lone Republican sponsor of the resolution, said Tuesday.

Members of the Trump administration, including the president, have dismissed legal arguments that the operation to arrest Maduro was an “enforcement” operation that did not require the signature of Congress. Mr. Trump and other officials also say that the United States is in control of Venezuela.

Many Republicans have defended the Trump administration’s failure to seek approval from Congress, saying the actions are within the president’s constitutional authority and are limited.

“This is not a regime change. This is a need for the government to change its behavior,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said after Monday’s briefing. “We are not waiting for the soldiers on the ground.”

Johnson added on Wednesday, “The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. There is no dispute about that, but we are not at war in Venezuela.”

Speaking on the Senate floor before the vote, Republican Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho called the decision “nonsense,” and said “the result of this is a slap in the face to the president of the United States.”

“That’s the only effect this vote can have. It won’t have a practical effect, because it’s trying to stop something from happening,” added Risch.

Boat strikes considered

A few weeks before Maduro’s capture, Mr. Trump launched his campaign of pressure, taking two tanks is allowed who were carrying oil from Venezuela. On Wednesday, the US made activities to he took two more ships linked to Venezuela.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who voted against the military power resolutions, suggested that if the US could seize a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, it could also seize small boats allegedly carrying drugs.

“I would notice, if we can take a big ship like this, we can take a few boats, without blowing them up in the water,” he told reporters last month. “But that’s a decision they have to make, I think, based on the level of intimidation.”

Paul, who has been critical of the strikes and criticized the lack of due process, shared a letter he received from the US Coast Guard saying that a number of suspected drug-trafficking vessels that had been intercepted by the military did not contain illegal drugs. In all, 212 obstructions occurred between September 1, 2024, and October 7, 2025, according to the letter. Of those boats, 41 boats “were free of contraband at the time of the interception,” according to the Coast Guard.

The letter also provided information about access to the Caribbean Sea.

“Of all the 212 vessels that have been interdicted during this period, 69 vessels have been interdicted in the Caribbean Sea by the surface equipment of the Coast Guard, which operates under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard,” the letter continued. “Of these 69 orders, 14 were not convicted of illegal activity at the time of the interdiction; 11 of those 14 vessels other than smuggling were not found guilty of crimes. Of the 69 Caribbean islands, 14 vessels were charged off the coast of Venezuela. They violated other US government criminal statutes.”

To justify the strikes, the Trump administration has said the US is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels it has labeled as terrorist organizations. The drugs trafficked by these companies kill tens of thousands of Americans each year and carry out “armed attacks” on American citizens, according to the White House.

But the opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of the Legal Counsel justifying the strikes remains divided. Lawmakers criticizing the military’s action say the basis for the opinion is insufficient in this case and want it to be made public.

In December, Mr. Trump he signed the executive order designates fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction,” perhaps seeking to strengthen the military justification surrounding Venezuela.

Fentanyl was not mentioned in the case against Maduro.