U.S. Senate Republicans have blocked a resolution that would have barred President Donald Trump from launching military action against Venezuela without congressional approval, despite growing concern over recent U.S. strikes in the southern Caribbean.
The Senate voted 51 to 49, largely along party lines, against moving forward with the war powers resolution.
Only two Republicans broke ranks to join Democrats in supporting the measure, the latest test of the party’s willingness to back Trump’s expanding military operations near Venezuela.
According to administration officials, U.S. forces have carried out at least 16 strikes against vessels in the Pacific and southern Caribbean since early September, killing more than 65 people.
The surge in attacks has raised fears that Trump may authorise a direct strike on Venezuelan territory — a concern that led to the bipartisan resolution, co-sponsored by Democrats Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff and Republican Rand Paul.
Officials told lawmakers this week that Washington currently has no plans to target Venezuelan soil.
Members of Congress from both parties had complained they have received scant information, such as who was killed, evidence of drug trafficking, the buildup's cost or the administration's long-term Latin American strategy.
During debate on the resolution on Thursday, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called on the Trump administration to hold a briefing for all 100 senators. Democrats have also called for a meeting with the full House of Representatives.
The administration has said those targeted were "narco-terrorists" transporting drugs that endangered Americans, without providing evidence or publicly explaining the legal justification for attacking the boats rather than stopping them and arresting those on board.
The U.S. Constitution requires any president to obtain Congress' approval before launching a prolonged military operation.
"The time is right for Congress to step in and reassert our congressional responsibility," Schiff told a news conference before Thursday's vote.
Opposing the resolution, Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Trump had the authority he needed, as commander-in-chief.
"I wish my colleagues would join me today in congratulating the president for what he has done," he said.
It was only the latest attempt to rein in Trump's war powers. The Senate blocked a resolution last month, by a vote of 51-48, that sought to stop the boat strikes. That vote was also mostly along party lines with the same two Republicans - Paul and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska - backing the measure.
Kaine and Schiff told reporters on Thursday they would consider options for trying another resolution after the vote.
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The U.S. Department of Defense has released a video of a submarine strike on an Iranian warship off the southern Sri Lankan coast. At least 80 peop...
A U.S. submarine strike sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, leaving at least 80 dead, the country’s deputy foreign minister said. Meanwhile, Iran postponed the funeral of its late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to state media.
The election of Iran’s next supreme leader could provide an opportunity to end the ongoing regional war involving Israel, the U.S. and Iran, Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the United States is making gains in its conflict with Iran after a key Iranian naval target was destroyed, confirming that the strike was carried out by a U.S. submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka. Rescue efforts are now under way for the ship’s crew.
The U.S. Department of Defense has released a video of a submarine strike on an Iranian warship off the southern Sri Lankan coast. At least 80 people died in the U.S. attack on the vessel, Sri Lanka's Deputy Foreign Minister said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. military has enough stockpiled weapons to fight wars "forever"; in a social media post late on Monday. The remarks came hours before conflict in Iran and the Middle East entered its fourth day.
U.S. first lady, Melania Trump chaired a UN Security Council meeting on children and education in conflict on Monday (2 March), a move criticised by Iran as hypocritical following U.S. and Israeli strikes that triggered a UN warning about risks to children.
A torpedo from a U.S. submarine sunk an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth told reporters as the Iranian conflcit entered its fifth day on Wednesday.
The U.S. embassy in Riyadh was hit by two drones resulting in a limited fire and some material damage, the kingdom's defence ministry said in a post on X on Tuesday, citing an initial assessment.
Shahid Motahari Sub-Speciality Hospital in northern Tehran and parts of the Golestan Palace were bombed on day two of the U.S.‑Israel strikes. AnewZ Touraj Shiralilou is in Iran's capital city and said that the facility was flattened in an airstrike.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the United States is making gains in its conflict with Iran after a key Iranian naval target was destroyed, confirming that the strike was carried out by a U.S. submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka. Rescue efforts are now under way for the ship’s crew.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 4th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Strikes across the Middle East are intensifying, fuelling travel disruption, driving up global energy prices and forcing diplomatic missions to shut their doors.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said the United States has a “virtually unlimited supply” of munitions and is capable of sustaining military action indefinitely, as the conflict with Iran entered its fourth day.
The United Nations has called for an investigation into a deadly attack on a girls’ primary school in Iran, which Iranian officials say has killed more than 100 children. The U.S. has said its forces “would not” deliberately target a school.
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