Handful of Republicans join Democrats to force Senate check on Trump’s war powers in Venezuela

By Morgan Rimmer, Sarah Ferris, Ted Barrett, CNN

(CNN) — A small bloc of Senate Republicans has delivered a notable rebuke of President Donald Trump just days after his operation ousting Venezuela’s leader, voting to advance a resolution that would limit future US military force in the nation without Congress’ approval.

Five Republicans on Thursday voted with all Senate Democrats to allow a future vote that would limit the president’s powers in the deepening conflict with Venezuela — a move that surprised even some Democrats who had not been certain how the GOP votes would fall.

The full measure is expected to pass next week, which would require 51 votes in the Senate. The measure, though, will still need to withstand a full amendment process and support for the final resolution is not guaranteed.

The vote in the Senate had been considered mostly a messaging exercise by Democrats and Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul, a co-sponsor of the measure, to force their GOP counterparts to register their discontent over – or support of – an increasingly emboldened White House. But now that it has won over enough Republican votes, it becomes a much more real threat to the reach of Trump’s power.

Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri were the surprise GOP defections.

“Today’s Senate vote is about potential future military action, not completed successful operations. The President and members of his team have stated that the United States now ‘runs’ Venezuela. It is unclear if that means that an American military presence will be required to stabilize the country,” Young said in a statement, explaining his vote.

“I – along with what I believe to be the vast majority of Hoosiers – am not prepared to commit American troops to that mission. Although I remain open to persuasion, any future commitment of U.S. forces in Venezuela must be subject to debate and authorization in Congress.”

The pair joined Paul, a critic of Trump’s overseas military actions, and GOP moderate Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine in supporting the measure. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman also surprised his colleagues by voting with his party, despite his public suggestions he may oppose it. After his vote, Fetterman refused to answer questions about why he voted in favor.

Trump lashed out after the vote. “Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America,” the president said in a Truth Social post.

He named the GOP senators, saying they “should never be elected to office again,” and denounced the War Powers Act as unconstitutional.

The House will take a similar vote on a measure limiting Trump’s authorities to intervene militarily in Venezuela later this month, thanks to a push by House Democrats. If that passes, the two chambers would need to unify their two resolutions — ultimately sending something to Trump’s desk for his consideration.

It has been a closely watched vote in both GOP leadership suites and the White House in a week where members of Congress have pressed the administration for answers about its next steps in the widening conflict with Venezuela. It’s the second bipartisan resolution to come up in the Senate since November to check the president’s powers.

Top Democrats, along with Paul, had been privately pushing Republicans to support the move, amid growing frustration behind the scenes about the president’s moves. While Republicans like Speaker Mike Johnson have been clear they believe Trump was within his powers to execute the operation in Venezuela without approval from Congress, not all Republicans agree.

The question of the boundaries of the president’s authority – and Congress’ role in authorizing military action abroad – has roiled Capitol Hill in recent months as the Trump administration has escalated its military campaign in South America. The operation leading to the ouster and capture of then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro triggered a series of classified briefings in Washington this week that left a partisan split in their wake.

And there have been further questions, including among Republicans, about where Trump might deploy US military forces next, including Cuba, Colombia or Greenland.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of the vote, Paul emphasized that this resolution is not a referendum on whether or not Maduro was a “bad guy,” but about asserting Congress’ right to declare war.

“The debate really isn’t about good or evil, bad or good. There’s a lot of evil in the world. The question is about who has the power to take the country to war,” he said, later adding, “The Constitution was very clear, and it divides war into two aspects. One is the declaration or initiation of war, that power was given to Congress, and then the execution of the war, the making of the war, was left to the president.”

Paul previously said he had heard from two other Republicans who were considering backing the resolution, increasing its chances for passage.

Kaine had said he had “high hopes and low expectations,” for the vote, and was hopeful they could pull more GOP support after the operation to capture Maduro than they received in November, noting that some of his colleagues had thought Trump was “bluffing.”

“If the first one was premature, and that was an opinion by a number of my colleagues who voted no, this isn’t premature,” he added.

Both senators argued that the administration’s insistence that the Venezuela operation was a law enforcement effort, with some military support, and not a military operation didn’t ring true.

“We’re seizing its oil. We’ve got a military blockade,” said Kaine, “You know, this is, this is not a surgical arrest operation, by any stretch, and that means we got to declare where we are on it.”

However, in a speech on the Senate floor earlier this week, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham countered that Trump did not need congressional consent or approval for capturing Maduro, calling the War Powers Act “patently unconstitutional,” and argued that Congress can push back on extended US involvement in Venezuela through its control over government funding.

“If you don’t want any American boots on the ground, I think you could come forward and pass, through the appropriations process, a prohibition of funds to be used to have American ground forces in Venezuela,” he said. “What we can’t do is substitute our judgment for the decision itself,” to use military force.

Kaine also told reporters that senators would be forcing votes to block military action in other nations and territories mentioned by the administration in recent days, including Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Nigeria and Greenland.

Paul said that behind closed doors he hasn’t heard any Senate Republican argue that there is a military rationale for using force to capture Greenland, despite the administration refusing to rule it out.

“On Greenland, I just have found no support, and I heard no support within our caucus for introducing troops into Greenland, taking military action, zero support. I’ve not heard of anybody in the hallways, in the gym, anywhere, I haven’t heard one Republican go up to me and say, get it by military force. But I think that loose talk is not just not good, but it’s also counterproductive,” he told reporters.

Paul suggested that such points are not coming from senators, saying, “It’s from you know, people like [senior White House aide] Stephen Miller, who also ruminated about getting rid of habeas corpus. So that kind of stuff is, should be condemned.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo contributed to this report.