SAEDNEWS: U.S. Senate Republicans opposed a resolution aimed at banning Trump from attacking Venezuela without authorization.
According to the political news service of Saed News, citing Reuters, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California, and Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky had drafted a bipartisan resolution declaring that any attack by former President Donald Trump without congressional authorization would be prohibited.
The resolution was rejected with 51 votes against and 49 in favor, with only two Republicans voting against it.
Tensions between Washington and Caracas have surged in recent months. The United States has carried out deadly attacks on boats that, according to the Trump administration, were allegedly smuggling drugs from Venezuela into the Caribbean.
The U.S. military has deployed a range of forces—including warships, fighter jets, bombers, Marines, drones, and reconnaissance aircraft—to the Caribbean. Long-range B-52 bombers have conducted “bomber attack exercises” along the Venezuelan coast.
Since September, the U.S. military has launched 16 attacks on boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, resulting in at least 67 deaths.
While tensions between Washington and Caracas continue to rise, the U.S. president has also authorized the deployment and operations of CIA personnel in Venezuela.
The increasing U.S. military presence in the Caribbean, soon to include the Ford aircraft carrier strike group, has raised questions about whether the United States intends to launch an attack inside Venezuela.
So far, the U.S. government has sought to avoid congressional involvement in its military operations across Latin America. CNN reported that a senior official at the U.S. Department of Justice told Congress last week that the military could continue its deadly strikes against drug traffickers without congressional approval, and the administration is not bound by the War Powers Act, which requires cooperation with legislators.
However, in another report on Thursday, CNN cited sources stating that Trump administration officials told lawmakers that the United States currently has no plans to attack Venezuela and has no legal justification for strikes against any land-based targets.
