The Senate voted on Thursday to advance a resolution that would restrict President Donald Trump’s authority to conduct additional military operations in Venezuela.
The Senate’s vote comes after the White House carried out an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday morning. The move garnered praise and criticism from folks on both sides of the political divide.
The upper chamber voted 52-47 in favor of a bipartisan war powers resolution. Now the matter will be considered before the full Senate for a final vote, which is expected to take place next week.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced the resolution with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). It would direct the president to cease military hostilities with Venezuela unless authorized by Congress.
Four other Republicans supported the measure, including Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine), Todd Young (Indiana), and Josh Hawley (Missouri). This represents a shift from a similar November vote when only Paul and Murkowski backed the measure, which failed 49-51.
🚨 BREAKING: US Senate votes to ADVANCE War Powers Resolution reining in President Trump’s actions on Venezuela, 52-47, with several Republicans joining Democrats.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 8, 2026
The White House CONFIRMED this would be vetoed.
REPUBLICAN 'YEAS':
Susan Collins
Josh Hawley
Lisa Murkowski
Rand… pic.twitter.com/dhaTwf3tip
President Trump, in a post on Truth Social, criticized the vote, saying Republican voters "should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to fake away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America."
Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again. This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President’s Authority as Commander in Chief. In any event, and despite their “stupidity,” the War Powers Act is Unconstitutional, totally violating Article II of the Constitution, as all Presidents, and their Departments of Justice, have determined before me. Nevertheless, a more important Senate Vote will be taking place next week on this very subject.
President Trump authorized Operation Absolute Resolve, which involved the deployment of over 150 military aircraft from 20 bases to capture Maduro in a predawn raid on his compound in Caracas.
Delta Force troops, supported by CIA intelligence, took the Venezuelan leader and his wife into custody. The operation resultedin the deaths of at least 40 Venezuelans. About six U.S. soldiers were injured during the operation.
Trump’s stated objective for Maduro’s ouster was to allow the U.S. to control Venezuelan oil reserves. He explained that the federal government will “run” Venezuela indefinitely and plans to seize 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to sell on the open market.
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump said during an interview. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be extracting oil. We are lowering oil prices and will be providing financial assistance to Venezuela, which is critically needed.”
Among Americans, opinions on Maduro’s ouster are mixed. A recent Economist/YouGov survey found that about 66 percent of respondents believe Trump should have obtained congressional authorization before approving such an operation. This represents a decline from a previous survey published two weeks earlier in which 74 percent expressed the same opinion.
Overall, Americans generally oppose military intervention in Venezuela by a 56 to 26 margin. However, among Republican voters, support rose from 43 percent to 53 percent.
A CBS News poll found that 75 percent of Americans—including 58 percent of Republicans—said a president should be required to get congressional approval before taking military action. Almost two-thirds of respondents oppose having the federal government “run” Venezuela over the long term.
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