Washington — President Trump lashed out at the five Republican senators who voted to advance a war powers resolution to limit his ability to further strike Venezuela without congressional approval, saying they “should never be elected to office again.”
“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,” Mr. Trump wrote Thursday afternoon.
The Senate voted 52 to 47 to advance Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia’s resolution under the War Powers Act earlier Thursday, less than a week after the U.S. captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Kaine’s measure would require “the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.”
The GOP senators who voted with Democrats to advance the measure were Todd Young of Indiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri.
Mr. Trump’s rebuke of Hawley is particularly striking, given the Missouri senator’s history of staunch support for the administration’s agenda in most other areas. Hawley was reelected to a second term in the Senate in 2024.
Paul brushed off Mr. Trump’s post, saying he’s spoken with the president several times this week and his support of the war powers push isn’t personal.
“On this issue, it’s a constitutional debate,” Paul told reporters. “What I said to him is it’s more of an academic debate than it is an anti-Donald Trump [debate]. I think it’s easy for presidents to take things personally.”
There are still several steps before a vote on final passage of the Senate measure. Even if it makes it through the chamber, it would still have to clear the House, where few Republicans have shown a willingness so far to buck Mr. Trump on the issue.
Two previous attempts to limit the president’s authority last year amid strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats failed to earn enough GOP support to advance. But Mr. Trump’s comments about having the U.S. “run” Venezuela and the concern that U.S. forces could be deployed there tipped the scales against him in the latest vote.
“I believe invoking the War Powers Act at this moment is necessary, given the president’s comments about the possibility of ‘boots on the ground’ and a sustained engagement ‘running’ Venezuela, with which I do not agree,” Collins said in a statement.
“A drawn-out campaign in Venezuela involving the American military, even if unintended, would be the opposite of President Trump’s goal of ending foreign entanglements,” Young said in a statement.
Hawley told reporters after the vote, “I just think if you’re going to put troops in there for hostilities, you’re going to have to get congressional approval.”
