Kaine, Paul, Schumer, & Schiff File War Powers Resolution on Venezuela

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rand Paul (R-KY), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) filed a War Powers Resolution to block the use of the U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress. President Donald Trump said yesterday that there would be strikes on land “very soon.” The War Powers Resolution is privileged, and may be called up for a vote on the Senate floor in 10 days.

“Although President Trump campaigned on no more wars, he and his Administration are unilaterally moving us closer to one with Venezuela—and they are doing so without providing critical information to the American people about the campaign’s overall strategy, its legal rationale, and the potential fallout from a prolonged conflict, which includes increased migration to our border. The Administration claims that military action is needed to address the real scourge of drugs in our communities, but at the same time, pardons convicted narcotraffickers, slashes funding for substance use and drug court programs, and chooses against interdicting these alleged drug boats that would allow us to find and prosecute the kingpins responsible for trafficking drugs,” said Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. “We should not be risking the lives of our nation’s servicemembers to engage in military action within Venezuela without a robust debate in Congress. This is why the Framers gave the power to declare war to Congress, not the President.”

“The American people do not want to be dragged into endless war with Venezuela without public debate or a vote,” said Paul. “We ought to defend what the Constitution demands: deliberation before war.”

“Since the founding of our Republic, the Constitution has vested one power clearly and exclusively in Congress: the power to declare war. Let’s be clear: Congress has not declared war on Venezuela,” said Leader Schumer. “There is nothing ‘America-first’ about sending U.S. troops into danger for a mission the administration cannot justify, cannot explain, and has no legal authority to launch. The American people do not want to be dragged into a needless, open-ended war. If the White House moves ahead with strikes on Venezuelan territory, the Senate will act immediately to stop an illegal war and defend our constitutional powers.”

“President Trump's pledge yesterday to begin strikes on Venezuelan territory 'very soon' should be the loudest alarm bell yet for our colleagues in Congress and our entire nation,” said Schiff. “We are being dragged into a war with Venezuela without legal basis or congressional authorization, and the Senate must be prepared to stop an illegal war that would needlessly place at risk thousands of American servicemembers. Americans do not want endless war.”

Kaine, Paul, and Schiff previously introduced a bipartisan resolution to prevent the use of military force within or against Venezuela, but it did not receive enough Republican votes to pass. Kaine and Schiff also introduced a similar measure focused on repeated strikes in the southern Caribbean Sea that the Trump Administration has carried out without congressional authorization, killing dozens of unknown individuals. The legislation did not gain enough Republican support to pass.

Full text of the resolution is available here.

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