Members of Congress Decry Trump’s Act of War on Venezuela as “Illegal”

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social Saturday at 3:21 I am“The United States successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who, along with his wife, was captured and taken out of the country. This operation was carried out jointly with US law enforcement agencies. Details follow.”

Hours later, during a congratulatory press conference, Trump said that during the transition period in Venezuela, “we will run the country correctly.” But he gave only limited information about how the process would work, other than to say “we're not afraid of boots on the ground.” Trump focused more on talking about the prosecution of Maduro and his wife in a New York courtroom.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi had already taken to social media earlier Saturday morning to message “Nicholas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores are indicted in the Southern District of New York. Nicolas Maduro is charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States. They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”

But in a short pre-dawn call with New York Times reporter, Trump refused to discuss “whether he sought congressional authorization for the operation or for what would happen next in Venezuela.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio later admitted that no consultations took place before the attack.

As it became clear that the leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees had not been consulted about the regime change attack, and as confusion grew over what would happen next in Venezuela, key members of Congress who constitutional authority declare wars and control major military actions – reacted angrily to what happened in the name of the United States, but without the consent of the legislature.

“The US invasion of Venezuela to overthrow the president and arrest him is illegal,” Tim Kaine, a Democratic senator from Virginia, told NPR on Saturday morning. Kaine vowed to push for a Senate vote next week to declare that Trump should not pursue this “unilateral presidential declaration of war against Venezuela” without congressional authorization.

Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, posted statement Stating: “President Trump's unauthorized military attack on Venezuela to arrest Maduro – horrific as it was – is a return to the days when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal affairs of all countries in the Western Hemisphere. History is littered with failures, and compounding this makes it difficult to demand with a straight face to other countries that they must respect the sovereignty of the United States when we do not do the same.”

“Where does this go next?” – Kane asked. “Will the president deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce a fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To fight terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal? To suppress Americans peacefully gathering to protest his policies? Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal permission from the people's elected legislature before putting military personnel at risk.”

Representative Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat who has been one of the most consistent critics of undeclared wars in the House, warned that Trump had ignored the Constitution. “President Trump was repeatedly told that he must consult with Congress and obtain its authorization to go to war in accordance with U.S. law. Although we are only seeing early public reports of what happened, it is clear that he acted without doing so,” Trump said. Bag said. “Trump, without informing the Democratic leadership, much less the rank and file, continues to degrade the rule of law.”

Representative James Walkinshaw, a Virginia Democrat serving on the House Oversight and Governmental Affairs Committee's Military and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee, said“Trump's war for regime change in Venezuela is completely illegal and represents another betrayal of the commitments he made to the American people. He said he would lower prices. He raises prices. He said no 'new stupid wars'. He's starting new stupid wars.”

Republican Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) took to social media first. and wrote“I look forward to learning what could constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force.”

Later, after receiving a call from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lee made weak excuses as for the administration claiming that the attack was “likely” justified by fears of “an actual or imminent attack.” But Washington Post National security analyst Josh Rogan wrote: “The United States just kidnapped a foreign head of state and bombed a foreign capital, using the excuse of protecting American personnel from 'actual or imminent attack,' according to Senator Lee. Make no mistake, President Trump just committed an act of war against Venezuela.”

New York Times took a similar view in an editorial entitled “Trump's attack on Venezuela is illegal and unwise.”

And Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) rejected claims President and Prosecutor General about the reasons for the regime change. “It's not about drugs. If it were, Trump wouldn't have pardoned one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world.” [former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández] last month. It's about oil and regime change. And they need a trial now to pretend that this is not so. Especially to take our minds off Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs.”

Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) also expressed skepticism. “If only this action were constitutionally sound,” Massey wrote on X“The Attorney General would not tweet that they arrested the President of a sovereign country and his wife for possessing weapons in violation of the US Firearms Act of 1934.”

Maduro, according to election observersalmost certainly lost the 2024 presidential election and then refused to resign. However, recently he gave the signal willingness to meet with Trump to discuss US drug trafficking allegations and other issues. Trump has now moved forward with a secret plan to overthrow the Venezuelan leader, even after Trump aides denied plans for regime change.

Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat who served as national security adviser to President Barack Obama, accused Trump's secretaries of state and defenders lied to Congress about the administration's intentions. “A few weeks ago, Secretaries of State Rubio and Hegseth looked every senator in the eye and said this is not about regime change,” Kim said in a statement amid early reports of U.S. air strikes on Caracas. “I didn't trust them then, and now we see that they blatantly lied to Congress. Trump has rejected our Constitutionally required process for approving armed conflict because the administration knows that the American people overwhelmingly reject the risks of plunging our country into another war.”

Kim explained: “This strike does not constitute force. It is unwise foreign policy. It puts Americans in Venezuela and the region at risk and sends a terrible and disturbing signal to other powerful leaders around the world that attacking a head of state is acceptable policy for the US government. It will further damage our reputation – which has already suffered from Trump's policies around the world – and will only isolate us at a time when we need our friends and allies more than ever.”

Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said“We have no vital national interests in Venezuela that could justify a war. We should have learned by now not to fall into another stupid adventure.”

Senator Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat who served in the US Marines from 2002 to 2006 and fought in the Iraq War, said bluntly: “This war is illegal.” “There is no justification for the United States' war on Venezuela. I have lived through the consequences of an illegal war sold to the American people through lies.” Gallego explained. “We swore we would never repeat these mistakes. And here we are again. The American people did not ask for this, Congress did not authorize this, and our service members should not be put in harm's way for another unnecessary conflict.”