Democrats Seek to Limit Trump’s War Powers After Venezuela Boat Strikes

Politics|Democrats Seek to Limit Trump’s War Powers After Venezuela Boat Strikes

Two Senate Democrats, alarmed by a pair of military strikes on Venezuelan boats this month, have filed a joint resolution calling for the United States to stop engaging in hostilities that have not been specifically authorized by Congress.

The measure, which was filed on Friday by Senators Adam Schiff of California and Tim Kaine of Virginia, both Democrats, follows military strikes on Sept. 2 and Sept. 15 that killed a total of 14 people. The White House has described the strikes as part of a campaign against Venezuelan drug cartels that it accuses of smuggling fentanyl into the United States.

But some legal specialists have condemned the U.S. military actions as illegal, and lawmakers say they have been provided insufficient evidence about the nature of the threat or the legal basis for the use of force. The Trump administration has not offered a detailed legal theory about why it is lawful.

“While we share with the executive branch the imperative of preventing and deterring drugs from reaching our shores, blowing up boats without any legal justification risks dragging the United States into another war and provoking unjustified hostilities against our own citizens,” Mr. Schiff said in a statement. “This unauthorized and illegal use of our military must stop.”

Mr. Kaine, who has pressed for Congress to reclaim its constitutional authority over matters of war, also rebuked the military campaign.

“President Trump has no legal authority to launch strikes or use military force in the Caribbean or elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere,” he said in a statement. The Trump administration has refused to give basic information about the strikes to Congress, including why it was necessary to put the lives of U.S. military personnel at risk, Mr. Kaine said.

The Pentagon convened a classified briefing with members of the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday to discuss the two strikes, according to two people familiar with the meeting. Democrats emerged dissatisfied and continue to say that the administration has failed to provide clear justification for why lethal force was used instead of traditional measures to intercept the boats..

The resolution from Mr. Schiff and Mr. Kaine made clear that they did not seek to prevent the president from ordering strikes to defend from an “armed attack” or potential “imminent armed attack,” and reaffirmed support for counternarcotics operations. But it emphasized that “the trafficking of illegal drugs does not itself constitute such an armed attack or threat.”

The introduction of the challenge to Mr. Trump’s war powers comes as legislation is circulating inside the White House that would seek broad congressional authorization for the president to use military force against groups the administration identifies as transporting narcotics.