{"id":196192,"date":"2026-01-08T22:27:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T22:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/senate-advances-measure-to-restrict-trumps-power-to-use-military-force-in-venezuela-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T22:27:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T22:27:43","slug":"senate-advances-measure-to-restrict-trumps-power-to-use-military-force-in-venezuela-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/senate-advances-measure-to-restrict-trumps-power-to-use-military-force-in-venezuela-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate advances measure to restrict Trump's power to use military force in Venezuela – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

BREAKING: House votes to revive expired Obamacare funds as Senate eyes its own bill<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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WASHINGTON \u2014 The Senate fired a warning shot at President Donald Trump, voting Thursday to advance a bipartisan resolution to block him from using military force \u201cwithin or against Venezuela\u201d unless he gets prior approval from Congress.
The vote of 52-47 on the war powers measure came after an unsuccessful plea by Republican leaders to sink it and preserve Trump\u2019s authority, as he threatens a \u201csecond wave\u201d of attacks on Venezuela. Trump has declared that the U.S. would \u201crun\u201d the country temporarily after he ordered a military operation last week to capture and extradite leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.
Five Republicans joined all 47 Democrats in voting yes on the motion to advance the resolution to the Senate floor.
The legislation, led by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was co-sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
\u201cInstead of responding to Americans\u2019 concerns about the affordability crisis, President Trump started a war with Venezuela that is profoundly disrespectful to U.S. troops, deeply unpopular, suspiciously secretive and likely corrupt. How is that \u2018America First?\u2019\u201d<\/a> Kaine said. \u201cTrump\u2019s war is also clearly illegal because this military action was ordered without the congressional authorization the Constitution requires.\u201d
The procedural motion Thursday sets up a full Senate vote on the measure next week; that will also require a simple majority and is expected to pass. It is subject to House approval and a presidential signature, making it unlikely to become law. But it sends a significant message to Trump that could impact his foreign policy moves going forward \u2014 in Venezuela and other countries.
\u201cTo my Senate colleagues: Enough is enough,\u201d Kaine said. \u201cYou were sent here to have courage and to stand up for your constituents. That means no war without a debate and vote in Congress.\u201d
Along with Democrats and Paul, the Republicans who voted for the measure were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Todd Young of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri.
Trump slammed those five Republicans, calling their votes an act of \u201cstupidity.\u201d
\u201cRepublicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a> on Truth Social. \u201cThis Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President\u2019s Authority as Commander in Chief.\u201d
Paul said some members of Congress want to \u201cshift the burden of initiating war to the president\u201d rather than take responsibility.
\u201cBut make no mistake, bombing another nation\u2019s capital and removing their leader is an act of war, plain and simple,\u201d the Kentucky Republican said. \u201cNo provision in the Constitution provides such power to the presidency.\u201d
The vote represents an early test of Republicans\u2019 appetite to slap limits on Trump\u2019s power to use military force after his capture of Maduro. Trump has suggested he is open to U.S. boots on the ground there and also threatened Iran, Greenland<\/a> and Colombia on Sunday, adding that Cuba \u201cis ready to fall.\u201d
\u201cI believe invoking the War Powers Act at this moment is necessary, given the President\u2019s comments about the possibility of \u2018boots on the ground\u2019 and a sustained engagement \u2018running\u2019 Venezuela, with which I do not agree,\u201d Collins said in a statement.
Murkowski said Congress must \u201caffirm our role under Article 1.\u201d
Ahead of the vote, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., urged senators to reject the war powers measure, calling the U.S. military capture of Maduro a law enforcement operation.
\u201cIt does not make America stronger. It makes America weaker and less safe,\u201d Barrasso said in a written statement. \u201cIt would weaken the President\u2019s legitimate, constitutional authority. This body, the United States Senate, is being asked whether the President of the United States has the authority to arrest indicted criminals. Of course he does.\u201d
Sahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.
Frank Thorp V is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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BREAKING: House votes to revive expired Obamacare funds as Senate eyes its own bill news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeWASHINGTON \u2014 The Senate fired a warning shot at President Donald Trump, voting Thursday to advance a bipartisan resolution to block him from using military force \u201cwithin or against Venezuela\u201d unless he gets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":196193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}