From The Hill: The Senate will vote next week on a bipartisan war powers resolution to block President Trump from continuing military action against Venezuela — a vote that takes on heightened importance after U.S. forces attacked the South American nation and arrested President Nicolás Maduro early Saturday.
The resolution to block the administration from engaging in further hostilities against Venezuela is privileged, which means Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) cannot stop it from coming to the floor.
The measure is sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
It needs only a simple majority to pass the Senate.
Schiff, who led the first impeachment against President Trump during his first term, slammed the capture of Maduro as he released the following statement:
Nicolás Maduro was a thug and an illegitimate leader of Venezuela, terrorizing and oppressing its people for far too long and forcing many to leave the country. But starting a war to remove Maduro doesn’t just continue Donald Trump’s trampling of the Constitution, it further erodes America’s standing on the world stage and risks our adversaries mirroring this brazen illegal escalation.
For months, as the Trump administration massed American servicemembers and firepower in the Caribbean, and used military force to destroy vessels and kill those on board, I and others in the Senate forced bipartisan votes to stop the illegal misuse of our armed forces. We warned that the true motive was not drugs, but regime change in an oil-rich nation. Despite all of the administration’s false denials, those motivations are now clear.
Acting without Congressional approval or the buy-in of the public, Trump risks plunging a hemisphere into chaos and has broken his promise to end wars instead of starting them. And in conjunction with his continued saber-rattling around the world and dropping approval ratings at home, the American people should be concerned that this is not the last time he will break that promise.
The President has vowed that this is not the end of our engagement in Venezuela, saying that ‘we’ll be involved in it very much.’ Congress must bring up a new War Powers Resolution and reassert its power to authorize force or to refuse to do so. We must speak for the American people who profoundly reject being dragged into new wars.
Nicolás Maduro was a thug and an illegitimate leader of Venezuela, terrorizing and oppressing its people for far too long and forcing many to leave the country. But starting a war to remove Maduro doesn’t just continue Donald Trump’s trampling of the Constitution, it further…
— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) January 3, 2026
Kaine also fumed over the move in a statement of his own.
“It is long past time for Congress to reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace, diplomacy and trade. My bipartisan resolution stipulating that we should not be at war with Venezuela absent a clear congressional authorization will come up for a vote next week,” he wrote.
My statement on Trump’s unauthorized military attack on Venezuela. Swipe for full statement: pic.twitter.com/LTOlip4cYs
— Senator Tim Kaine (@SenTimKaine) January 3, 2026
Schumer also released a statement and declared, “The idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans. The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price.”
The Washington Examiner quoted Schumer as saying:
“We have heard from some Republicans in private conversations, chairs, talking to their ranking members, that they have some — they are troubled by this.
“You’ll be hearing more from them in the coming days. I’ve talked to a bunch of them today. They’ve already had some discussions with their chairs. Congress should not be sidelined as the Trump administration gets sucked into another nation-building quagmire, and we’re going to hold them accountable.”
My full statement on the Trump Administration’s military actions in Venezuela: pic.twitter.com/eqYE4t9K7J
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 3, 2026
Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) joined the three Democrats in sponsoring the bill, despite that he did release an article on X warning against the dangers of socialism.
The Hill notes that at least three additional Republicans would need to vote for the bill to give it the 51 votes needed to pass. Potential GOP votes could come from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.).
READ MORE from The Hill.
Meanwhile, podcast host Alec Lace wrote, “Barack Obama dropped 26,171 bombs in a single year on Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan without Congressional Approval. Donald Trump just captured NarcoTerrorist Dictator Maduro. Guess which one received the Media melted down over?”
🚨 Barack Obama dropped 26,171 bombs in a single year on Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan without Congressional Approval
• Donald Trump just captured NarcoTerrorist Dictator Maduro
Guess which one received the Media melted down over? pic.twitter.com/E2oFTwJmiR
— Alec Lace (@AlecLace) January 3, 2026
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