WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are demanding answers as to the reason behind President Donald Trump’s strike in Venezuela to capture leader Nicolás Maduro, including Democrats and even some Republicans as questions still remain unanswered.
Trump is facing questions from Capitol Hill about the legality and the reason for the attack, with critics fearing it could drag the U.S. into another costly war.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) questioned the real reasoning behind the strike, asking on X that if it is truly about going after drug traffickers, “then why hasn’t the Trump admin taken action against Mexican cartels?”
She went on to accuse the accused Trump of seeking regime change in “a clear move for control over Venezuelan oil supplies.”
“Americans disgust with our own government’s never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it,” Greene continued. “And both parties, Republicans and Democrats, always keep the Washington military machine funded and going. This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said the capture of Maduro is “great for the future of Venezuelans and the region.” But also added he fears Trump’s move will make other countries to take similar actions.
“My main concern now is that Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan,” Bacon said. “Freedom and rule of law were defended last night, but dictators will try to exploit this to rationalize their selfish objectives.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) questioned its legality, saying that it is “long past time for Congress to reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war.”
“President Trump’s unauthorized military attack on Venezuela to arrest Maduro — however terrible he is — is a sickening return to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere,” Kaine said in a statement.
“Where will this go next?” he added. “Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal? To suppress Americans peacefully assembling to protest his policies? Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal authorization from people’s elected legislature before putting servicemembers at risk.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also accused the administration of failing to “properly notify Congress in advance of the operation in Venezuela.”
