Castro, Casten, Van Hollen, Kaine Demand Transparency from Trump Administration on United States-Venezuela Energy Deal

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) are demanding transparency from the Trump Administration on its energy deal with Venezuela, an unprecedented attempt to seize control of a sovereign nation's natural resources. The members are pressing the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a full audit of this deal.

The lawmakers underscored that President Trump's executive order gives his administration unprecedented authority over Venezuelan oil supply, writing, "This gives senior Trump Administration officials sweeping discretion over how the Venezuelan oil funds will be spent and it is unclear whether the appropriate anti-corruption and anti-money laundering controls exist to ensure that the funds are not enabling the illicit drug trade and other criminal activities in Venezuela."

The lawmakers criticized the lack of oversight of the deal, writing, "Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that no formal audit agreement was in place, but his agency plans to engage outside auditors to review future payments. This lack of a defined oversight mechanism, combined with the arrangement's significant scale and its national security and foreign policy implications, warrants independent congressional oversight."

They concluded by requesting a GAO audit and that the "scope of the review cover both the period of time that the funds were routed to accounts in Qatar, the current arrangement for funds to be routed to U.S. accounts controlled by the Treasury Department, and any other successor mechanism utilized by the Administration to facilitate the sale of Venezuelan oil, custody of these assets, and disbursement of these funds."

In part, the lawmakers are requesting that the GAO audit include: