- US
Senate advances measure on Thursday. - Curbs
Trump’s authority for Venezuela strikes. - Limits
presidential power to launch attacks.
By a vote of 52-47, the Senate approved the motion to
dismiss the War Powers Resolution.
Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, presented the bill, which was
approved by five Republicans: Senators Josh Hawley, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins,
Rand Paul, and Todd Young.
Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, abstained from voting.
Next week, a definitive vote is anticipated.
As the Trump administration increased military pressure on
Venezuela with strikes starting in September last year, Republicans in the
upper house rejected two prior attempts to introduce similar resolutions.
With a military action in Venezuela last weekend, the US
substantially intensified the conflict and captured President Nicolas Maduro
and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Prior to the vote, Kaine stated that the Constitution
forbids the use of US soldiers in hostilities in Venezuela without a
congressional decision.
“Before you send our sons and daughters to war, come
to Congress … and with that, I moved to discharge the Committee on Foreign
Relations from further consideration of S.J. Res. 98 to direct the removal of
the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela
that have not been authorized by Congress.”
Kaine emphasized that his resolution did not contest
the execution of Maduro’s arrest warrant last week, stating that it would
benefit both Venezuela and the United States if Maduro was brought to justice
in the United States.
What happens next in the Senate after advancing the
resolution?
The US Senate’s 52- 47 vote on January 8, 2026, cleared a
procedural cloture chain, advancing Sen. Tim Kaine’s( D- VA) war powers
resolution to check President Trump’s Venezuela military conduct without
congressional approval.
Next comes bottom debate open to amendments, bottom
speeches, and accommodations potentially gauging days amid GOP pushback from
Majority Leader John Thune. sympathizers like Sens. Rand Paul( R- KY) and Susan
Collins( R- ME) seek final passage by simple maturity( 51 votes), targeting the
coming weekpost-MLK Day recess.
Upon Senate approval, the measure moved to the Republican
House, where a previous November 2025 interpretation failed 220- 212; Speaker
Mike Johnson signals resistance despite narrow GOP perimeters. Trump vows
proscription, demanding two- thirds overrides( 67 Senate, 290 House) without
broader defections beyond the five GOP legislators( Paul, Collins, Murkowski,
Young, Hawley).
