US Senate advances resolution to limit Trump's war powers following Venezuela strike

WASHINGTON -- The US Senate on Thursday advanced a resolution aimed at limiting US President Donald Trump's ability to take further military action against Venezuela.

The move came days after the Trump administration launched a large-scale military strike in Venezuela on Jan 3, taking by force the oil-rich South American country's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, before putting them in custody in New York, drawing worldwide condemnation and concern.

The vote was 52 to 47, with five Republican senators joining all Democrats in support of the measure.

A Senate floor vote is expected to approve the resolution next week.

The measure would require "the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress."

Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, introduced the resolution last month after the Trump administration reportedly killed two people who survived the initial US boat strike in the Caribbean on Sept 2, 2025.

The legislation was co-sponsored by Republican Senator Rand Paul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff.

"The indication from the administration (is) that this is not a few days or a few weeks, it's likely a few years of US occupation and involvement in this country," Kaine said Wednesday on the Senate floor.

"This is not an arrest warrant. This is far bigger than that," said the Democratic senator, referring to the US raid to take Maduro by force.

"I think bombing a capital and removing the head of state is by all definitions, war," said Paul, the resolution's lone Republican co-sponsor, on Tuesday.

However, many Republican lawmakers defended the Trump administration's military action, though the White House had neither informed Congress in advance nor tried to seek approval from Congress, arguing that the boat strikes and the raid on Maduro were well within the president's constitutional authority.

Senate Democrats failed to advance two similar attempts last year.