Senate votes to block Trump from future military strikes on Venezuela

The Senate on Thursday voted 52-47 to block President Donald Trump from further military action in Venezuela.

The move came less than a week after Trump authorized a strike that captured the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.

The measure, known as a War Powers Resolution, only needed a simple majority to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate and would require Trump to seek the approval of Congress before using the U.S. military again in Venezuela. The measure was brought by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. 

The vote in the Senate was procedural, but it indicates that the measure has the votes to pass when it comes to a final vote in the Senate. It would then go to the House, where Republicans have a razor-thin majority.

“Make no mistake, bombing another nation’s capital and removing their leader is an act of war plain and simple. No provision in the Constitution provides such power to the presidency,” Paul said in a statement.

The Constitution vests Congress with the authority to declare war.

Trump and his allies in Congress have argued he did not need to consult Congress on the strike that captured Maduro, which they say was a law enforcement operation. Maduro is now facing drug-related charges in New York. 

The Senate shot down a similar resolution in November, after only two Republicans — Paul and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska —  joined all Democrats in voting for it. Trump engaged in a months-long military buildup around Venezuela before the action that captured Maduro.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, voted for the measure.

“While I support the operation to seize Nicolas Maduro, which was extraordinary in its precision and complexity, I do not support committing additional U.S. forces or entering into any long-term military involvement in Venezuela or Greenland without specific congressional authorization,” Collins said in a statement.