Just last Saturday, January 3rd, U.S. Forces launched military strikes across several key locations in Venezuela. The mission resulted in the capture of President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were swiftly placed on a plane and removed from their country. This bold move by Donald Trump‘s administration has certainly sparked a firestorm of reactions.
During a subsequent press conference, Trump didn’t mince words, claiming the United States would “run” Venezuela post-capture. When pressed on the need for congressional approval, he tossed the question to Rubio. Rubio explained that such an operation is a “law enforcement function” that can’t be pre-notified due to mission endangerment. Trump then doubled down on his “leakers” claim, reiterating, “Congress will leak and we did not want leakers.”
Congressional Leaders Speak As President Donald Trump Denies Needing Their Approval Before Capturing Venezuelan President
Following the dramatic capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, several members of Congress quickly voiced their concerns and criticisms.
Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) took to X, passionately calling out the situation. She wrote, “This is when we see who is serious about their oath & who isn’t. This President continues to exceed his powers because Republicans care more about a pat on the head than they do being patriots. OUR TROOPS, OUR LAND, OUR CITIZENS, & OUR STANDING IN THE WORLD are all being put at risk!
If republicans are so supportive of his acts, then he could have come to Congress for approval… but he’s been allowed to unconstitutionally grab immigrants, then US citizens off the streets because too many people continue to pretend like this is nothing more than a game! I’m disgusted at how feckless & weak elected ‘leaders,’ are being in this moment! I’ll put it this way, if the justification for grabbing a president comes from having indictments….something tells me this precedent won’t age well!”
Maxine Waters (D-CA) chimed in with her signature directness, asking, “What the hell is going on? Trump has supposedly abducted President Maduro and his wife and brought them to the United States for trial, supposedly for drug trafficking and bringing drugs to the United States. It was just a few weeks ago when Trump pardoned one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world, Juan Orlando Hernández, the former President of Honduras, who had been convicted by the Biden Administration and was serving a sentence of 45 years in prison. What is this? Is this about regime change? Is this about oil? Or is this a power play to continue to send a message around the world that Trump is all-powerful and he is headed towards dictatorship in our country?”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) also weighed in, dismissing the drug narrative. “It’s not about drugs. If it was, Trump wouldn’t have pardoned one of the largest narco traffickers in the world last month. It’s about oil and regime change. And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs.”
House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) added her institutional critique, noting, “Venezuela is ruled by an illegitimate regime, but the Administration has not made the case that an urgent threat to America’s national security existed to justify the use of U.S. military force. President Trump has made no secret of his intentions to effectively abolish the Congress, and that pattern continues today with his flagrant disregard for the Article One war powers of Congress which is essential to our constitutional system of checks and balances.
If the President grounds his actions on the basis of drug trafficking charges, it is entirely hypocritical in light of his recent pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández who was responsible for bringing more than 400 tons of cocaine in the United States in order to ‘shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.’
The Administration says Maduro will be tried for drug trafficking in a U.S. court — but Hernández was convicted of the same crime by an American jury and Trump pardoned him. Congress must be fully and immediately briefed on the strikes and regime change in Venezuela, the objectives and extent of this operation, and how the Administration intends to prevent further regional fallout.”
Even Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) voiced a complex critique. While affirming her support for strong borders and fighting narco-terrorists, she questioned the administration’s priorities. She pointed out that fentanyl, a major killer in the U.S., comes from Mexican cartels, asking why action wasn’t taken against them if drug trafficking was the true motive. Greene also highlighted the hypocrisy of pardoning former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine – the same drug Venezuela is accused of. Her statement continued, suggesting Maduro’s removal was a clear move for Venezuelan oil, possibly a precursor to conflict in Iran. Greene also critiqued the double standard of U.S. military intervention versus global condemnation of Russia or China.
Regime change, funding foreign wars, and American’s tax dollars being consistently funneled to foreign causes, foreigners both home and abroad, and foreign governments while Americans are consistently facing increasing cost of living, housing, healthcare, and learn about scams and fraud of their tax dollars is what has most Americans enraged.
Especially the younger generations. Boomers and half of Gen X will cheer on neocon wars and talking points, but the other half of Gen X and majority on down see through it and hate it. 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 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. As the baby boomers slip away both in votes and power, the electoral future will be decided for candidates that focus on American economic populism and promising prosperity for Americans only. As of right now, neither party is offering the solution.”
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