Senators Move to Force Vote to Bar Ground Strikes in Venezuela

Politics|Senators Move to Force Vote to Bar Ground Strikes in Venezuela

A bipartisan group in the Senate is planning to force a vote on legislation that would bar the United States from engaging in hostilities inside Venezuela without explicit authorization by Congress.

The measure faces long odds given the unwillingness of most Republican lawmakers to challenge President Trump, who would be all but certain to veto it. But a vote on the legislation, which is required, would put Congress on the record on whether to rein in Mr. Trump’s escalating and legally questionable military campaign against Venezuela.

Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia and Adam B. Schiff of California, both Democrats, have teamed with Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, on the resolution, worried that the Trump administration’s order of covert C.I.A. action in Venezuela could be the first step toward an all-out war.

The measure would block the president from carrying out any military action “within or against” Venezuela unless it was “explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force” by Congress. Under the 1973 War Powers Act, aimed at limiting a president’s power to enter an armed conflict without the consent of Congress, such a resolution must be considered and voted upon under expedited procedures.

The Trump administration has directed U.S. Special Operations forces to strike at least five boats off the coast of Venezuela since last month, claiming the vessels were transporting drugs, and escalated pressure on the country’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, with a buildup of troops and show of aerial threats. This week, Mr. Trump suggested he might consider a ground war.

“We are certainly looking at land now,” he told reporters on Wednesday, “because we’ve got the sea very well under control.”

The administration so far has stressed that its strikes against alleged drug runners in the Caribbean were conducted in international waters. Direct military action against Venezuela would amount to a severe escalation.

“The American people do not want to be dragged into endless war with Venezuela without public debate or a vote,” said Mr. Paul, a libertarian who routinely opposes U.S. involvement in overseas conflicts. “We ought to defend what the Constitution demands: deliberation before war.”

Yet while many Republicans have embraced Mr. Trump’s “America First” foreign policy philosophy and his push to extricate the United States from conflicts abroad, few in Congress have spoken out against the attacks at sea or the prospect of an escalation with Venezuela.

Last week, the Senate blocked a measure by Mr. Kaine and Mr. Schiff that would have halted the boat strikes without express congressional authorization, with just two Republicans voting to take it up.

The president is required under law to notify key figures in Congress as soon as possible about covert actions or the use of lethal force. But the White House has so far not briefed that group of lawmakers about the C.I.A. operations in Venezuela, according to two people familiar with the confidential process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Mr. Trump holds the authority to use lethal force and conduct covert operations without congressional approval, but only to counter an imminent threat. His administration has argued in the case of Venezuela that the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States constitutes such a threat. Mr. Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he authorized C.I.A. action against Venezuela in part because the country had “emptied their prisons into the United States of America.”

The Senate’s understanding of the boat strikes amounts to “a complete black hole,” Mr. Kaine told reporters on Thursday, adding that the administration had provided no legal justification to Congress for the hits, which have killed dozens of people.

The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the authority to declare war, though commanders in chief from both parties have claimed broad powers in recent decades to carry out military operations without the consent of the legislative branch.

Mr. Kaine is among a small group of lawmakers from both parties who have worked for years without success to claw back Congress’s role in authorizing military operations.

“We should be more jealous about the powers that we have,” Mr. Kaine said.

Mr. Schiff said the authorization of covert operations suggested that the Trump administration’s goals in Venezuela went beyond countering drug smuggling.

“We must assert our authority to stop the United States from being dragged — intentionally or accidentally — into full-fledged war in South America,” Mr. Schiff said.

A White House official said in a statement that the president had acted “within the laws of armed conflict” and that he was “prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”

The bipartisan measure is aimed at attracting more Republican support for reining in the Trump administration’s escalating military action against Venezuela. Last week, Mr. Paul and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the only Republicans who supported the resolution to halt the boat strikes.

One other Republican who has expressed concern about the recent attacks, Senator Todd Young of Indiana, said that measure was too broad and could be applied to military action in other regions of the world.

“Despite my opposition to this resolution, I am highly concerned about the legality of recent strikes in the Caribbean and the trajectory of military operations without congressional approval or debate and the support of the American people,” he said in a statement after the vote.

Mr. Kaine said he hoped the narrower language in his new resolution would persuade Republicans like Mr. Young to vote with Democrats to curb the president’s use of force.

Julian E. Barnes and Robert Jimison contributed reporting.