Washington — The Senate is expected to hold a third vote today on another war powers resolution to limit President Trump’s ability to attack Venezuela, as the US leader continues to take unilateral action against the South American country.
The vote, scheduled for early Thursday, comes days after the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in an overnight raid that surprised not only the former president but also Congress.
Mr Trump had long teased land strikes against Venezuela amid a months-long military campaign against offshore drug-smuggling boats that have killed more than 100 people. Mr Trump has not ruled out additional military action. He said the US would “manage” the country for the time being and control its oil sales as part of the strikes in Venezuela on Saturday as part of a bold operation to capture Maduro and face charges against the US.
Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, introduced his latest resolution in early December after the US learned that two people who survived the initial blast in the Caribbean Sea on September 2 had died.
Kaine’s measure would require “the withdrawal of hostilities in or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.”
“The administration’s indication (is) that this is not just a few days or a few weeks, it’s probably going to be years of U.S. occupation and involvement in this country,” Kain said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “This is not an arrest warrant. It’s much bigger than this.”
Without additional support from Republicans, the measure is expected to pass same fate because the previous failed two efforts directed by Cain to limit the military action in the region.
Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, held briefings Tuesday for key lawmakers about last weekend’s actions in the region. Similar meetings were held on Wednesday for all members of Congress.
Democrats left those meetings satisfied with the answers they received about what comes next.
The boat attacks and Maduro’s kidnapping and transfer to the US have alarmed legal experts and lawmakers, with some accusing the Trump administration of committing war crimes, lying about its intentions for regime change and dragging the US into a war without congressional authorization.
“I think bombing a capital and removing a head of state is war by every definition,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the sole Republican sponsor of the resolution, said Tuesday.
Members of the Trump administration, including the president, have mixed legal arguments saying the operation to capture Maduro was a “law enforcement” operation and did not require a signature from Congress. Mr. Trump and other officials also say the United States is now responsible for Venezuela.
Many Republicans have defended the Trump administration’s failure to seek congressional approval, arguing that the actions are within the president’s constitutional authority and are limited in scope.
“This is not a regime change. This is a request to change the behavior of a regime,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said after Monday’s classified briefing. “We don’t expect troops on the ground.”
Johnson added on Wednesday: “The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. There is no debate about that, of course, but we are not at war in Venezuela.”
Shipwrecks analyzed
In the weeks leading up to Maduro’s capture, Mr. Trump branded his pressure campaign, seizure of two tankers sanctioned They were carrying oil from Venezuela. On Wednesday, the US conducted operations seize two other ships Related to Venezuela.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has voted against the war powers resolutions, suggested that if the US seized a huge oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, it could also seize smaller ships believed to be carrying drugs.
“I would consider that if we can take a big ship like this, we might be able to take a few ships without blowing them out of the water,” he told reporters last month. “But that’s a decision they have to make on the ground, I think, depending on the level of threat.”
Paul, who has been a strong critic of the strikes and condemned the lack of due process, shared a letter The military branch received from the US Coast Guard that the dozens of suspected drug-smuggling vessels interdicted did not contain illegal drugs. A total of 212 bans occurred between September 1, 2024 and October 7, 2025, according to the letter. Of those, 41 ships “did not have illegal contraband when prohibited,” according to the Coast Guard.
The letter also gave details of the interceptions in the Caribbean Sea.
“Of the 212 vessels interdicted during this period, 69 vessels were interdicted in the Caribbean Sea by Coast Guard surface assets operating under Coast Guard law enforcement authority,” the letter continued. “Of those 69 interdictions, 14 had no illegal contraband on board when interdicted; 11 of those 14 non-contraband vessels were not alleged to have committed a federal crime. Of the 69 interdictions in the Caribbean, 14 vessels were charged off the coast of Venezuela. Other U.S. federal criminal statutes.”
To justify the strikes, the Trump administration has said the US is “in an international armed conflict” with drug cartels it has designated as terrorist organizations. The drugs smuggled by these cartels kill tens of thousands of Americans every year and constitute an “armed attack” against US citizens, according to the White House.
But the Justice Department’s Legal Counsel’s opinion justifying the strikes remains classified. Members of parliament who are critical of the military action argue that the reason for the opinion is not appropriate for the situation and have demanded that it be made public.
In December, Mr. Trump signed the executive order calling fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction,” perhaps trying to bolster the justification for military action in Venezuela.
Fentanyl was not mentioned in the indictment against Maduro.