Trump Expected to Veto Senate War Powers Resolution Next Week

President Trump is expected to veto a War Powers Resolution that was advanced by the U.S. Senate on Thursday, aimed at limiting the president’s use of the nation’s armed forces in Venezuela without congressional approval.

The procedural vote will now set up a full Senate vote sometime next week, which will require a simple majority to then make its way to the White House, where the president is expected to veto the measure upon arrival.

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) co-sponsored the legislation alongside Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who helped bring four other Republican Senators on board in a bipartisan salvo aimed at President Trump and the executive branch, calling for “...no war [in Venezuela] without a debate and a vote in Congress.”

The four Republicans who joined Senate democrats in a 52-47 vote margin are Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Todd Young of Indiana, and Josh Hawley of Missouri.

The procedural vote came shortly after a covert operation by U.S. special forces in Caracas that led to the capture of the now-ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Jan. 3, an operation that involved 150 U.S. aircraft, and the deaths of dozens of Cuban and Venezuelan security forces charged with Maduro’s protection at a military compound in the Venezuelan capital.

Although the U.S. president previously warned of a “second wave of attacks” by U.S. forces if U.S. political and economic demands were not met by the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez, President Trump did state on Friday during a meeting with top oil executives at the White House: “I don’t think it's going to be necessary to do the second wave”, following apparent acquiescence from Maduro’s successor.

“Instead of responding to Americans’ 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 ‘America First?’” Kaine asked.

Senator Kaine also called the president’s use of the U.S. military in Venezuela “clearly illegal because this military action was ordered without the congressional authorization the Constitution requires.”

Republican Senator John Barasso of Wyoming, on the other hand, argued the resolution “does not make America stronger. It makes America weaker and less safe.”

Barasso also added that the measure “weakens the president’s legitimate, constitutional authority.”

President Trump equally condemned the Senate’s Thursday vote, calling it “stupidity”, adding, “This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President’s Authority as Commander in Chief.”