01.14.26

Democrats’ War Powers Resolution Hypocrisy

Democrats Have Previously Seen No Need to Curtail a President’s War Powers in Limited Interventions, But Now They’re Eager to Play Politics Over the Highly Successful Capture of Nicolás Maduro

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“There are some who say that the minute the president does anything, Congress has to approve it. That's really not how the law is; it says up until 60 days, you have to act. And up until that point, if it's a limited action, that requires some immediacy, I don't believe Congress has to act.” – Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) (3/24/11)

AMERICAN FORCES ARE NOT IN ACTIVE HOSTILITIES WITH VENEZUELA, A DISTINCTION DEMOCRATS PREVIOUSLY CITED WHEN OPPOSING PAST WAR POWERS RESOLUTIONS

“We don't have U.S. forces on the ground in Venezuela. No, we don't have U.S. forces on the ground. Everyone knows they were on the ground for about two hours when they went to capture Maduro.” – Secretary of State Marco Rubio

  • Just this morning, Secretary of State Rubio once again confirmed that there are no U.S. troops in Venezuela: “There are currently no U.S. Armed Forces in Venezuela. Should there be any new military operations that introduce U.S Armed Forces into hostilities, they will be undertaken consistent with the Constitution of the United States and we will transmit written notifications consistent with section 4(a) of the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148).” (The White House: Letter from Sec. Rubio to Chairman Risch – 1/14/26)
  • “National security leaders told senators… that the administration does not plan to use ground troops in Venezuela…” (Politico: Trump officials tell Congress: No troops in Venezuela – 1/7/26)
  • “[I]t seeks to avoid U.S. boots on the ground in the kind of open-ended occupation that troubled U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan and proved unpopular with the American public.” (The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Tries a New Playbook: Regime Management, Not Regime Change – 1/12/26)
  • Instead, the operation that arrested Maduro only required an extraction team to set foot in Venezuela and flew out of the country mere hours later. (CNN: The US has captured Venezuelan leader Maduro. Here’s what to know – 1/3/26)
  • “By the time the sun rose in Caracas, Maduro’s nearly 13-year grip on power had ended. In handcuffs, blindfolded and wearing a gray sweatsuit, he was on a U.S. warship, on his way to New York City to face narcoterrorism charges following a five-hour operation.” (The Wall Street Journal: Inside Operation Absolute Resolve, the U.S. Incursion That Deposed Venezuela’s Maduro – 1/3/26)
  • In 2024, as the Senate was considering a joint resolution to terminate the use of U.S. forces for the construction of the Gaza Pier, former Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) made a point of order to block a War Powers Resolution from advancing on the grounds that U.S. troops were “not being engaged in hostilities.”
    • “Let me be clear about this. American boots are not on the ground in Gaza. The U.S. troops who are operating the pier in question are not engaged in hostilities or in carrying out a mission that requires the authorization of the use of military force… Let me just call to our colleagues’ attention what is included in the War Powers Act itself. It deals with U.S. Armed Forces when they are ‘[i]nto hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities or in such situations.’ That is not what we have here in regards to the pier.” – Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) (7/11/24)
    • Ultimately, nearly every Senate Democrat voted with Sen. Cardin to block Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) War Powers Resolution from further consideration. (S.J.Res. 89: Roll Call Vote #212 – 7/11/24)

THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION INCREASED THE AWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO MADURO’S ARREST AND DEMOCRATS TALKED A BIG GAME ABOUT PUSHING HIM OUT, BUT PRESIDENT TRUMP GOT THE JOB DONE

  • “[O]ver 11 years of authoritarian rule has overseen an economic implosion, diplomatic isolation and the exodus of nearly eight million Venezuelans—more than war-torn Syria and Ukraine. Maduro has given transnational gangs a haven, U.S. and Colombian officials say, and allowed Russia, China and other U.S. rivals to gain a foothold in the Western Hemisphere.” (The Wall Street Journal: In Secret Talks, U.S. Offers Amnesty to Venezuela’s Maduro for Ceding Power – 8/11/24)
  • The Biden administration not only considered Maduro a criminal, but increased the reward for his arrest:
    • “In 2020, during Trump's first term in office, the Justice Department offered a reward of $15 million for information leading to Maduro's arrest or conviction on drug trafficking and weapons charges.” (U.S. Department of State: Nicolás Maduro Moros (Captured) – 1/6/26; USA Today: 'Thugs and dictators': What was Joe Biden’s stance on Maduro? – 1/5/26)
    • “In January 2025, the Biden administration upped the bounty on Maduro to $25 million. Later that year, the reward was increased to $50 million under Trump.” (U.S. Department of State: Nicolás Maduro Moros (Captured) – 1/6/26; USA Today: 'Thugs and dictators': What was Joe Biden’s stance on Maduro? – 1/5/26)
  • For years, Senate Democrats have called on Maduro to be ousted from power and recognized the evils of his regime:
    • “For too long, the people of Venezuela have suffered a manufactured crisis at the hands of a cruel and corrupt regime. Nicolás Maduro’s effort to block the delivery of desperately needed food and medicine is despicable and should be broadly condemned by leaders across the globe.” – Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) (2/13/19)
    • “The people of Venezuela deserve better than this. We can’t allow this President’s short attention span to stop us from delivering on our promise to help the Venezuelan people rebuild their country. Boredom or fomenting a new crisis elsewhere is no excuse for inaction… Though President Trump may seem ready to throw in the towel, I stand committed to aiding the people of Venezuela.” –Senate Democrat Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) (6/20/19)
    • “Right now, it’s our problem in that we need to push for humanitarian aid… I’m also glad that we’re trying to push Maduro out.” – Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) (3/17/19)
    • “Maduro is a dictator and a crook who has wrecked his country’s economy, dismantled its democratic institutions, and profited while his people suffer.” – Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) (7/30/19)
    • “If Trump cared about consistency, he would make the realist case for intervention in Venezuela (getting rid of Maduro is good for the United States) rather than trying to pretend his Administration all of the sudden cares about toppling anti-democratic regimes.” – Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) (1/23/19)

IN PAST INSTANCES OF SHORT-TERM U.S. MILITARY ACTION, DEMOCRATS DID NOT SEEK TO CURTAIL THE PRESIDENT’S WAR POWERS

  • 2011: “President Barack Obama launched an air campaign against Libya… The decision to order the strikes came after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution, spearheaded by his administration, that authorized military intervention in Libya. Obama said the military action sought to save the lives of peaceful, pro-democracy protesters who found themselves the target of a crackdown by Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.” (Politico: Obama approves airstrikes against Libya, March 19, 2011 – 3/19/19)
    • “I believe on these, we should defer to the commander-in-chief on short-term, immediate situations like this.” – Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) (3/13/11)
    • “The limited nature of this engagement allows the president to go forward. I’m satisfied that the president has the authority he needs to go ahead. If we had boots on the ground … then that’s a different story.” – Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) (6/16/11)
    • “If there’s a proposal coming before the Congress, then I would have no difficulty in supporting the actions today.” – Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) (3/20/11)
    • “To not support the president in this limited participation would have been terrible. It would have been great for Gadhafi.” – Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) (8/18/11)
  • 1999: “[President Clinton] does not believe he needs congressional approval to send U.S. bombers over Serbia as part of a NATO force.” (The Boston Globe: Fight Over War-Making Power Will Outlast War – 5/6/99)
    • The U.S.-led NATO bombing campaign of Serbia lasted over two months and “had a force of nearly 1,000 aircraft, 54 percent of which belonged to the U.S. Air Force,” and conducted thousands of strikes during the operation. (U.S. Air Force Historical Support Division: 1999 - Operation Allied Force – accessed 1/14/26)
  • 1994-1996: In response to a military coup against the first popularly elected president in Haitian history, President Clinton launched a multi-year operation that culminated in an invasion force of 25,000 U.S. troops to compel the Haitian military to return power. (U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian: Intervention in Haiti, 1994–1995 – accessed 1/14/26)
    • “The invasion forces launched with the negotiations in progress, without any certainty whether they would make an opposed or a peaceful entry on to Haitian soil. The Haitian leadership capitulated in time to avoid bloodshed.” (U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian: Intervention in Haiti, 1994–1995 – accessed 1/14/26)
  • 1992-1995: “Once President Clinton gives the word, the Pentagon is ready to send an estimated 20,000 U.S. troops into Bosnia as part of an overall NATO enforcement mission of 60,000 soldiers… U.S. troops are well into their preparations for the Bosnian mission, but officials would not say whether they would be sent there by Christmas. Nor were they clear about how they would know when it was time to bring the troops home.” (CNN: Pentagon boosts Bosnia peace plan – 11/23/95)
  • 1989: “In December 1989, Gen. Manuel Noriega’s run as dictator of Panama was reaching a humiliating end. American troops had invaded the country with orders to capture Mr. Noriega and bring him to trial.” (The New York Times: How the Heavy-Metal Fall of a Dictator Shapes Trump’s Venezuela Plans – 11/12/25)
    • The U.S. operation in Panama required 26,000 U.S. troops and “was the largest and most complex combat operation since the Vietnam War.” (U.S. Army: Operation Just Cause: the Invasion of Panama, December 1989 – 11/17/08)
    • “Like Mr. Noriega more than 30 years ago, Mr. Maduro has been federally indicted on drug trafficking charges. And U.S. officials maintain that the Venezuelan is not a foreign leader but a criminal who must be ‘brought to justice,’ as Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently said.” (The New York Times: How the Heavy-Metal Fall of a Dictator Shapes Trump’s Venezuela Plans – 11/12/25)
    • “‘There are parallels,’ said Elliott Abrams, who served as U.S. special envoy for Venezuela during Mr. Trump’s first term. ‘One is that the guy running the government is someone we do not view as a legitimate head of government. And both are drug traffickers.’” (The New York Times: How the Heavy-Metal Fall of a Dictator Shapes Trump’s Venezuela Plans – 11/12/25)
    • And like Mr. Noriega, who ran Panama though puppet politicians, Mr. Maduro is considered an illegitimate ruler by the United States because of the fraudulent elections that have kept him in power since 2013. Trump officials say he is more accurately described as a criminal cartel leader.” (The New York Times: How the Heavy-Metal Fall of a Dictator Shapes Trump’s Venezuela Plans – 11/12/25)