US lawmakers to force vote on war powers if Trump attacks Venezuela

"Unauthorized military action against Venezuela would be a colossal and costly mistake that needlessly risks the lives of our servicemembers," Democrats Tim Kaine of Virginia, Chuck Schumer of New York and Adam Schiff of California and Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky said in a joint statement.

"Should a strike occur, we will call up a War Powers Resolution to force a debate and vote in Congress that would block the use of U.S. forces in hostilities against or within Venezuela," they said.

Three House of Representatives lawmakers - Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Joaquin Castro of Texas and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky - filed their own resolution on Tuesday that also would block the Trump administration from engaging in hostilities within or against Venezuela without congressional authorization.

U.S. troops have carried out at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since early September, killing at least 83 people as Trump escalates a military buildup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government.

The Trump administration has been weighing options to combat what it says is Maduro's role in the supply of illegal drugs that have killed Americans. The socialist Venezuelan president has denied having any links to the illegal drug trade.

Members of Congress have long accused presidents from both parties of seeking to sidestep the Constitution's requirement that Congress, not the president, approve anything other than brief military action. On Venezuela, Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans say they are worried that Trump has conducted a three-month-long military campaign without congressional authorization.

Lawmakers from both parties have also expressed alarm in recent days over a Washington Post report that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on September 2 ordered troops to fire for a second time on a boat to kill survivors of a first strike, which could violate international law.

'WE MAY HAVE A PROBLEM'

Republican-led congressional committees said during the weekend they would investigate the Venezuela campaign, the second time in recent days that members of Trump's party have voiced concerns about one of his policy initiatives.

Last week, several Republican lawmakers harshly criticized the White House over its handling of a proposed Ukraine peace plan they said favors Russia.

Senator Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican who is on the Armed Services and Intelligence committees, said he is still trying to ascertain the facts of the strike as well as the laws affecting it.

"But my understanding is that we may have a problem if you're killing survivors in the water after a strike," Rounds told reporters on Tuesday. "Once we get the facts, then we can start making determinations that need to be made."

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Hegseth had authorized Admiral Frank Bradley to conduct the strikes on September 2. She said the strikes were conducted to protect U.S. interests, took place in international waters and were in line with the law of armed conflict.

Hegseth said at the White House on Tuesday that he had seen the first strike that day and then stepped away, only learning "a couple of hours later" that Bradley had ordered the second. He said Bradley had "complete authority" to do the second strike and that "he made the correct decision to sink the boat and eliminated the threat."

A few lawmakers have tried, and failed, repeatedly to force Trump to obtain Congress' approval of the campaign against Venezuela.

Trump's Republicans in the Senate blocked a resolution in November that would have prevented him from attacking Venezuelan territory without congressional authorization. In October, Senate Republicans blocked a resolution that would have stopped the boat strikes.