Republicans praise Trump’s strike and takeover of Venezuela despite no authorization
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailRepublicans largely endorsed President Donald Trump’s “large-scale” strike against Venezuela and capture of its president Nicolas Maduro, despite the fact that the president did not seek authorization from Congress. Almost no Republicans criticized the move on Saturday after early-morning reports of strikes in Caracas even as the president would not say if he had consulted with Congress.Senate Majority Leader John Thune praised Trump’s actions, saying that he had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “President Trump’s decisive action to disrupt the unacceptable status quo and apprehend Maduro, through the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant, is an important first step to bring him to justice for the drug crimes for which he has been indicted in the United States,” Thune said in a statement.The Department of Justice for its part unsealed it 25-page indictment against Maduro, his wife and various Venezuelan officials accusing them of running a massive cocaine trafficking operation. open image in galleryPresident Donald Trump announced that the United States would run Venezuela after it conducted strikes on Caracas and captured its president Nicolas Maduro. (AP)In addition, Rubio told reporters that the administration notified Congress immediately after the strikes, which runs counter the typical procedure of consulting leaders of the House and Senate as well as the chairman and ranking members of relevant committees like the House and Senate Armed Services Committee.“Congress will leak, and we don’t want leakers,” Trump said.House Speaker Mike Johnson also praised the strike in a statement. “President Trump is putting American lives first, succeeding where others have failed, and under his leadership the United States will no longer allow criminal regimes to profit from wreaking havoc and destruction on our country,” Johnson said. The speaker added that the administration is scheduling briefings for members of Congress.The Senate leader and speaker’s statements mark a continuing abdication of Congress’s authority to declare war as outlined in the first article of the U.S. Constitution. open image in galleryA photograph posted by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account shows him sitting next to CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (via REUTERS)open image in galleryFlames rise above Caracas after the strikes carried out by US forces (via REUTERS)Much of the criticism from Democrats admitted that Maduro was an authoritarian dictator, but criticized the lack of consultation with Congress. “The administration has assured me three separate times that it was not pursuing regime change or taking military action in Venezuela,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “Clearly, they are not being straight with Americans.”Trump ran in 2024 as a “Peace” candidate who would not engage in long-term wars in the ways his predecessors of both parties had. But since he re-assumed office a year ago this month, Trump has engaged in strikes in the Caribbean and Iran. On Saturday, he announced a long-term engagement in Venezuela.“So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition, and it has to be judicious, because that's what we're all about,” he said. “We can't take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn't have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind.” Senator Jack Reed, top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the plans “ludicrous.” “No serious plan has been presented for how such an extraordinary undertaking would work or what it will cost the American people,” he said. “History offers no shortage of warnings about the costs – human, strategic, and moral – of assuming we can govern another nation by force.”Only a handful of Republicans offered criticism. “The operations last night are great for the future of Venezuelans and the region,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is retiring, said in a statement. “My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan. Freedom and rule of law were defended last night, but dictators will try to exploit this to rationalize their selfish objectives.”By contrast, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former enthusiastic supporter of Trump’s, criticized the action. “Regime change, funding foreign wars, and American’s tax dollars being consistently funneled to foreign causes, foreigners both home and abroad, and foreign governments while Americans are consistently facing increasing cost of living, housing, healthcare, and learn about scams and fraud of their tax dollars is what has most Americans enraged,” she said in a statement. “This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end,” she added. “Boy were we wrong.”But Greene will only be in Congress for a few more days. On Saturday, the House read her resignation letter during a pro forma session.
