WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), and U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) slammed Republicans' procedural motion to sidestep their War Powers Resolution to block the use of the U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress. The Senate voted 52-47 to advance the legislation last week, and then President Donald Trump lashed out at the Republicans who crossed the aisle to vote for it.

Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, said: "If President Trump were confident in the merits and legality of his deeply unpopular Venezuela war, he wouldn't have bullied members of his own party into using an obscure procedural trick to avoid a public debate about it. The White House knows it has lost the American people on this issue-within 24 hours of the Senate's vote last week to advance my bipartisan war powers resolution, Trump publicly canceled a second wave of strikes on Venezuela.

"In the days since, the White House has spent an enormous amount of time and effort trying to justify its actions, including by issuing a public commitment that it will not put boots on the ground in Venezuela in the future without congressional approval. Trump himself directly reiterated that commitment, and Secretary Rubio made a promise, to a Republican Senator, to come before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"We're going to work to ensure that those commitments are honored, and we're going to file a whole lot more war powers resolutions to stop the President from taking military action against the many other countries he's threatened."

Leader Schumer said: "Last week, a bipartisan group of Senators challenged Donald Trump and his administration after their brazen and unconstitutional regime change in Venezuela. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has spent the last few days bullying and cajoling Republican members into changing their vote. The American people don't want endless wars that risk the lives of American servicemembers and cost the taxpayers billions. Americans don't want military adventurism and prolonged conflict with no plan, no transparency, and no articulated goals. It's shameful that Republicans refused to assert our constitutional authority over military force. But this will not be our last War Powers Resolution if Trump continues on this path. And next time, I urge our colleagues to stand with the American people."

Schiff said: "Senate Republicans just narrowly blocked consideration of the resolution to put a check on the President's military actions in Venezuela. We will not give up. Congress must prevent our troops from being put in harm's way to secure access to another country's oil."

Kaine, Paul, and Schiff previously introduced a bipartisan resolution to prevent the use of military force within or against Venezuela, but it narrowly failed. Kaine and Schiff also introduced a similar measure focused on repeated strikes in the Caribbean Sea that the Trump Administration has carried out without congressional authorization, killing dozens of unknown individuals. The legislation did not gain enough Republican support to pass.

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