Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to dismiss a war powers resolution that would have limited President Donald Trump’s ability to carry out further military action against Venezuela, with two GOP senators reversing their earlier support for the measure.
Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to defeat a Democratic-backed motion after the Senate split 50-50 on a Republican effort to dismiss the resolution.
The outcome followed five Republican senators who originally joined Democrats to advance the legislation last week. Two of those Republicans, Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana, ultimately withdrew their support.
Democrats forced the debate after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month.
“Here we have one of the most successful attacks ever and they find a way to be against it. It’s pretty amazing. And it’s a shame,” President Trump said Tuesday during a speech in Michigan.
President Trump also criticized several Republicans who maintained their support for the resolution, blasting Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Even if the resolution had passed the Senate, it stood little chance of becoming law because it would have required President Trump’s signature.
Lawmakers also cited the release of a heavily redacted 22-page Justice Department memo outlining the legal basis for the operation that captured Maduro. The memo states that the administration currently has no plans for expanded military action.
“We were assured that there is no contingency plan to engage in any substantial and sustained operation that would amount to a constitutional war,” the memo said, signed by Assistant Attorney General Elliot Gaiser.
The administration has justified its actions by citing wartime authorities under the global war on terror, after designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations. It has also characterized Maduro’s capture as a law enforcement operation tied to longstanding U.S. criminal charges.
Hellbound and Down 