(NewsNation) — As congressmembers woke up Saturday morning, they learned of the overnight strikes the United States conducted on Venezuela. So far, the responses have largely come down along party lines.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called some members of Congress after President Donald Trump confirmed the U.S. was responsible for several explosions that erupted in Caracas, Venezuela. The operation also resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who were extradited to the U.S.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., expressed his support for the Trump-ordered operation, calling it a “necessary action.”
“President Trump’s decisive action to disrupt the unacceptable status quo and apprehend Maduro, through the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant, is an important first step to bring him to justice for the drug crimes for which he has been indicted in the United States,” Thune wrote on X.
Support for Trump’s strikes on Venezuela
Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez, R-Fla., compared Trump’s actions to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
“President Trump has changed the course of history in our hemisphere. Our country & the world are safer for it. Today’s decisive action is this hemisphere’s equivalent to the Fall of the Berlin Wall,” Gimenez wrote on X. “It’s a big day in Florida, where the majority of Venezuelan, Cuban, & Nicaraguan exiles reside. This is the community I represent & we are overwhelmed with emotion and hope. We are forever grateful to President Trump & to our brave service members for this stellar military operation.”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, also said no further action is expected now that Maduro is in custody.
“The kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant,” Lee, a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, said.
Republican Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Roger Wicker, R-Miss., praised Trump.
“I commend President Trump for ordering a successful mission to arrest illegitimate Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and bring him to the United States to face justice. Our military performed an incredibly complex mission with characteristic precision and professionalism. Today, we owe a debt of gratitude to the brave individuals who were able to accomplish such a daring operation.”
Opposition to Trump’s strikes on Venezuela
Other congressional leaders, mostly Democrats, opposed Trump’s actions.
“Far too many questions remain unanswered, including with respect to whether further military actions are planned,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. “First, how many American troops remain on the ground in Venezuela? Second, what does America is going to run Venezuela until a judicious transition takes place mean? Third, were these military strikes about seizing foreign oil to benefit friends of the Trump administration? Fourth, why did Donald Trump pardon the former Honduran President, a narco trafficker convicted in an American court of law, but is willing to take us to war in Venezuela in connection with similar allegations?
“Pursuant to the Constitution, the framers gave Congress the sole power to declare war as the branch of government closest to the American people,” he continued.
“The hypocrisy underlying this decision is especially glaring,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., wrote in a statement. “This same president recently pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in a U.S. court on serious drug trafficking charges, including conspiring with narcotics traffickers while in office. Yet now, the administration claims that similar allegations justify the use of military force against another sovereign nation. You cannot credibly argue that drug trafficking charges demand invasion in one case, while issuing a pardon in another.”
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth “looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change. I didn’t trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress.”
Trump did not receive congressional approval for the operation in Venezuela, and critics may point to that as a legal issue with the military operation.
“We’ll discuss that,” Trump told The New York Times. “We’re going to have a news conference.”
Congress in the dark
Many members have said they did not know about the attack until after it occurred, and Congress is out of session. House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., said, “The Trump Administration is working to schedule briefings for Members as Congress returns to Washington next week.”