Democratic lawmakers and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expressed concern Wednesday that the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker by the U.S. could further increase tensions between the two countries, while other GOP senators said they were awaiting more information.
“It sounds a lot like the beginning of a war,”Paul told NewsNation’s Hannah Brandt on Capitol Hill.
The libertarian senator, a frequent critic of the Trump administration’s posture towards Venezuela, added that it is not “the job of the American government to go looking for monsters around the world, looking for adversaries and beginning wars.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Conn.) echoed Paul’s worries, telling NewsNation that while he does not know the details of the incident, he is “gravely concerned that [Trump] is sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela.”
Coons, the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, noted that he has not received a detailed briefing on the administration’s plans for a potential war with Venezuela, the path forward or how to manage risks.
Trump told reporters earlier in the afternoon that U.S. forces captured a “very large tanker” off the coast of Venezuela. Attorney General Pam Bondi later released a video of the seizure on X, adding that the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Pentagon executed the seizure warrant on the tanker, which the U.S. said was transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
The oil was sanctioned due to its “involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” Bondi added.
Republican Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Jon Husted (Ohio) and Roger Marshall (Kan.) each told NewsNation that they did not know the specifics of the seizure.
“I will look into it,” Hawley said, as he walked into an elevator.
Husted said that he had been in meetings and has not been briefed on the matter.
Marshall, said that while the seizure is “news to me,” the U.S. “should be pushing back on Venezuela.” The Kansas Republican added that he is “concerned about the drug cartel that is running” the South American country.
The move marks the latest in a series of escalations by the administration towards Venezuela and its leader, Nicolás Maduro. The State Department last month designated Cartel de los Soles, a drug-trafficking network, as a foreign terrorist organization. The administration alleges Maduro is the head of the group.
The president has also authorized 22 strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since early September, killing at least 87 people.
At the same time, the Pentagon has built up a significant presence in the U.S. Southern Command area, sending warships, Marines, fighter jets, spy planes and other assets. Trump also confirmed in October that he had authorized the CIA to conduct operations in Venezuela.
Trump told Politico on Monday that Maduro’s “days are numbered.”
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) told NewsNation Wednesday that she is concerned regarding all of the administration’s actions regarding Venezuela, saying she is “of course” worried about the prospect of war.
“There are a lot of legal issues involved,” Hirono said.
Last week, Paul and Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), Adam Schiff (Ca.) and Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) filed a war powers resolution to prevent the administration from engaging Venezuela in conflict without congressional approval.
The Kentucky Republican reiterated he and his colleagues’ push on Wednesday, saying that “ if you want war, the president should come to Congress, like the Constitution dictates, and he should ask Congress for a declaration of war.
“That’s what should be going on right now.”