„As I said earlier today on this floor, during the debate on my War Powers Resolution to end this administrationâs extrajudicial strikes on boats in the Western Hemisphere, those bombings are not about drugs. If the administration did want to stop drugs, Trump would not have pardoned the former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando HernĂĄndez, or Ross Ulbricht, who operated the Silk Road drug marketplace. He wouldnât be seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Or threatening CIA operations, blockades, and ground strikes on Venezuela.
„Itâs not about drugs, itâs about regime change, and itâs about oil. Thatâs not just me saying that. Itâs Trump himself saying it. Itâs President Trumpâs Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, who said Trump wants to, and I quote, âkeep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.â And it relies on the magical thinking that military force can bring democracy in Venezuela or anywhere else.
„But his chief of staff also conceded, as any reasonable person with any knowledge of the constitution should, that if Trump, quote, âwere to authorize some activity on land, then itâs war, then [weâd need] Congress.â
„On that, sheâs right. Congress would need to pass an Authorization for the Use of Military Force if Trump wanted to put boots on the ground or conduct military strikes on Venezuela. And for that, Republicans in Congress would need to cast their vote on whether to commit U.S. armed forces to an open-ended conflict their constituents certainly do not want.
„Trump ran on ending forever wars, but now heâs forgotten what they are. What his own Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth characterized as, quote, âinterventionism, undefined wars, regime change, and feckless nation building.â Yet with Venezuela, Trump is provoking a new war right in our backyard and threatening to destabilize an entire region.