By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) – A group of U.S. senators who have tried repeatedly to rein in President Donald Trump’s aggression against Venezuela said on Tuesday they would file a new resolution to force a congressional vote on the issue if the administration carries out a strike within the country.
“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.
Republican-led congressional committees have launched investigations of the U.S. military campaign off the coast of Venezuela, the second time in recent days 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.
On Venezuela, lawmakers cited concern about the administration conducting a months-long campaign without congressional approval as well as a report that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on September 2 ordered a second strike on a boat to kill survivors of a first strike, which could violate international law.
‘WE MAY HAVE A PROBLEM’
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.”
U.S. troops have carried out at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific in the past three months, killing at least 83 people as Trump escalates a military buildup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
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.
A few lawmakers have tried, and failed, repeatedly to force Trump to obtain Congress’ approval of the campaign, citing the Constitutional requirement that only Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war.
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.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; additional reporting by Bo Erickson; editing by Deepa Babington)
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