Two Republicans Side With Democrats In Failed Attempt To Stop Trump On Venezuela
House Republicans refuted a unified Democratic caucus by rejecting a resolution Thursday night ordering the withdrawal of U.S. armed forces in Venezuela.
THE new resolution arrives only eight days after a similar invoice was defeated in the Senate with a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President J.D. Vance. Thursday’s resolution was defeated 215-215, despite support for the Democratic effort from Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon.
Massie, a libertarian-leaning Republican, faces a GOP primary challenger backed by President Donald Trump while Bacon, a moderate, is retiring after the midterms.
“The United States is not at war with Venezuela. I know you all predicted there would be a forever war, but we have never been at war with Venezuela,” Florida Republican Rep. Brian Mast, chairman of the Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Thursday. “There are no troops on the ground. The Democrats are asking us to pass a resolution on a situation that literally doesn’t exist. We don’t have anyone in Venezuela fighting. There are no tanks on the ground in Caracas. There are no snipers at the tree line. It doesn’t exist. Again, we are not at war.” (RELATED: Trump kept Venezuela under Maduro loyalists after CIA flagged opposition risks)
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) leaves a meeting with members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs and Venezuelan Opposition Leader María Corina Machado January 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Luke Johnson/Getty Images)
“It’s really important that we reassert our authority over war and military actions, and I think it’s important that there are Republicans who understand why this is so important, and that this is a bipartisan effort, even though we’re not there yet in the Senate,” Washington Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Thursday. “I just think it’s critically important, it’s an authority that the Founders gave to Congress, and we need to defend it.”
The previous Senate resolution on war powers first enjoyed success in a vote carrying the bill to the upper chamber with the support of five Republicans on January 8: Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Todd Young of Indiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. However, six days later, following lobbying and major threats from Trump, Hawley and Young reversed their votes and joined Republicans in tabling the resolution – highlighting the lack of troops in Venezuela and insurance from the White House that she would seek congressional approval for any future action.
“You know what happened in the Senate? They voted. First, five Republicans joined the Democrats. But in his general style, two of them were very threatened by the president and had to rescind their vote the following week,” New York Representative Gregory Meeks, the senior Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said on the House floor Thursday. “We need to have a vote here and see if the courage that the first five showed – and the three who continued to do so – if my colleagues on the other side will have the courage to stand up. » (RELATED: Senate and Vance barely killed efforts to control Trump on Venezuela after Hawley and Young reversed votes)
A man holds a Venezuelan flag during a demonstration by elderly people to demand the release of ousted President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in Caracas on January 21, 2026. (Photo by Pedro MATTEY/AFP via Getty Images)
Thursday’s resolution on war powers is part of a series of similar resolutions brought before Congress since October 2025, first in response to the president’s strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats around Venezuela, and now addressing the January 3 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and related questions of long-term involvement in the country.
“I think the hostilities were present, when you look at the bombing of the boats, the strikes,” Jayapal told the DCNF on Thursday. “We put our troops in harm’s way. That’s the authority that Congress gave us, which is to think about what the action is and then what the consequences are. And I think the consequences of that could be really horrific in terms of the sovereignty of other nations. And so I think that needs a debate. It needs authorization – that’s what the Founders wanted.”
“Make no mistake, we are not at war with Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro is a murderer, an autocrat, a narcoterrorist, a thug who oppressed his own people, stole elections and transformed a once prosperous and free country into a desperate nation that millions have fled,” Arkansas Republican Rep. Rick Crawford said Thursday. “None of the actions taken by the Trump administration to execute an arrest warrant against a criminal constitutes war. »
“Additionally, Secretary Rubio again confirmed to Congress on January 14 that there are currently no U.S. troops in Venezuela and that the introduction of U.S. armed forces into future hostilities will be done pursuant to notifications in the War Powers Resolution, if necessary,” Crawford added.
Trump indicated that American involvement in this South American country could last for years in an effort to rebuild and capitalize on Venezuelan oil assets — the largest reserves in the world – which Trump says the US will control the sale of “indefinitely”.
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