The United States Senate approves a resolution that blocks Trump from new military actions in Venezuela
First major setback for Donald Trump in his intervention in Venezuela. The United States Senate approved this Thursday to vote on a resolution that prohibits the American president from authorizing new military actions in the South American country, by 52 votes to 47, in what represents the first firm sign of discontent among the traditional Republican ranks over the operation that kidnapped Nicolás Maduro. Five Republican senators aligned themselves with the Democratic group to advance a measure that had failed in two previous votes before the intervention.
Although this Thursday’s vote in the Upper House was solely procedural, the result does indicate that the resolution will be approved once it is presented to the full Senate. The measure, known as the War Powers Resolution, only requires a simple majority, 51 votes, to pass.
The resolution specifies that the Trump Administration will have to first go to Congress to receive authorization before being able to give the green light to any military operation in Venezuelan territory. The US Constitution stipulates that the White House must ask permission from the Legislative branch before undertaking any act of war, but in this case the Government did not warn the Capitol in advance because it considers the action to be police in nature.
The omission had caused strong discomfort among at least some of the senators, who alleged that the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, had promised that there would be a notice to Congress if the Government finally decided on a military attack in Venezuela.
The measure had been introduced in the Republican-dominated Upper House by Republican Senator Rand Paul and Democrat Tim Kaine. Senators Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Todd Young, Susan Collins and Josh Hawley joined the Democratic caucus to pass the resolution
If approved, the resolution will be presented in the House of Representatives, where Republicans have a very slim majority.
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