US Senate Rejects Effort to Stop ‘Unauthorized War’ Against Venezuela
US officials told congressional lawmakers that the US currently lacks a legal justification for striking land targets inside Venezuela.
Mexico City, Mexico, November 6, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The United States Senate narrowly rejected by a 49-51 vote a bipartisan war powers resolution that aimed to block the use of US armed forces against Venezuela without congressional authorization.
Led by Republican Senator Rand Paul and Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff, Thursday’s resolution was the latest bipartisan effort by US lawmakers to reign in the Donald Trump administration’s bombing campaign in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific that the proposal’s supporters have called an “unauthorized war” that runs afoul of the US Constitution.
“There is no authorization for the use of military force that gives President Trump the authority to launch military strikes in Venezuela,” said Kaine in a statement before the vote. “And instead of working with Congress, the Trump Administration has left us in the dark about the ongoing operations and large-scale buildup of military assets in the region.”
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, administration officials told congressional lawmakers that the United States currently lacks a legal justification for striking land targets inside Venezuela.
CNN revealed that officials said at a briefing that the opinion produced by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, that the White House currently uses to justify strikes at sea, does not extend to strikes on land. Wednesday’s briefing was attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and an official from the White House’s Office of Legal Counsel.
However, the Trump administration is reportedly pursuing a separate legal opinion that would allow it to justify strikes on land targets without congressional authorization.
Jake Johnston, director of international research at the progressive think tank CEPR, said the admission by US officials that there are no plans for military strikes inside Venezuela was a “damage control operation.”
“Lawmakers should be wary about falling for the bluff. Given the scale of the military resources being deployed, this could well be an effort to buy time until the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft group arrives in the southern Caribbean, and the administration can come up with a legal justification, however flimsy, to bypass congressional authorization for a regime change war,” affirmed Johnston.
The Trump administration maintains that strikes at sea do not require approval from Congress. According to the Washington Post, T. Elliot Gaiser, head of the Trump administration’s Office of Legal Counsel, told lawmakers that the bombing campaign of alleged drug smuggling boats does not meet the definition of hostilities under the 1973 War Powers Resolution.
The law requires Congress’ approval for sustained military action after a 60-day period. The current bombing campaign commenced on September 2 with the first strike that killed eleven people, with the window expiring this past week.
An unnamed official told the Post that because US troops are not exposed to danger, the White House does not believe the law applies.
Since mid-August, the Trump administration has stationed warships, a nuclear-powered submarine and thousands of troops off the coast of Venezuela, while US warplanes have repeatedly entered Venezuela’s flight information region. The latest incident took place Thursday when two B-52 bombers flew along the Venezuelan coast.
The White House has likewise ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s largest aircraft carrier, to move to the Caribbean. It is expected to arrive in mid-November.
The US has launched at least 16 strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Pacific and Caribbean, killing at least 65 people. US officials have accused high-ranking Venezuelan leaders of “narcoterrorism” but have not provided court-tested evidence to sustain the charges.
Trump has regularly alluded to potential military action against Venezuela. In October, he confirmed authorization for the CIA to carry out lethal covert operations in Venezuela, and he has repeatedly stated that land strikes against alleged drug targets on Venezuelan soil would follow strikes at sea.
Edited by Ricardo Vaz from Caracas.