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U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) speaks with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), as Lori Chavez-DeRemer, U.S. President Trump’s nominee to be secretary of labor testifies earlier than a Senate Well being, Training, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee affirmation listening to on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 19, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
The Senate on Thursday voted 52-47 to dam President Donald Trump from additional army motion in Venezuela.
The transfer got here lower than per week after Trump approved a strike that captured the nation’s chief, Nicolás Maduro.
The measure, often known as a Conflict Powers Decision, solely wanted a easy majority to go within the Republican-controlled Senate and would require Trump to hunt the approval of Congress earlier than utilizing the U.S. army once more in Venezuela. The measure was introduced by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
The vote within the Senate was procedural, but it surely signifies that the measure has the votes to go relating to a last vote within the Senate. It might then go to the Home, the place Republicans have a razor-thin majority.
“Make no mistake, bombing one other nation’s capital and eradicating their chief is an act of battle plain and easy. No provision within the Structure supplies such energy to the presidency,” Paul mentioned in a press release.
The Structure vests Congress with the authority to declare battle.
Trump and his allies in Congress have argued he didn’t have to seek the advice of Congress on the strike that captured Maduro, which they are saying was a regulation enforcement operation. Maduro is now dealing with drug-related prices in New York.
The Senate shot down an identical decision in November, after solely two Republicans — Paul and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — joined all Democrats in voting for it. Trump engaged in a months-long army buildup round Venezuela earlier than the motion that captured Maduro.
Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, voted for the measure.
“Whereas I help the operation to grab Nicolas Maduro, which was extraordinary in its precision and complexity, I don’t help committing further U.S. forces or getting into into any long-term army involvement in Venezuela or Greenland with out particular congressional authorization,” Collins mentioned in a press release.
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