Congress moves to limit Trump military strikes in Venezuela region

Congress wants to take control and gain more control over the United States military Action In The Caribbean, as Trump administrationIts strikes in the region’s waters are subject to intense scrutiny.

While some lawmakers questioned its legitimacy Among the strikes that the administration says are aimed at curbing the flow of drugs into the United States, the attacks have attracted increased scrutiny amid revelations that US forces launched a second raid that killed alleged drug traffickers on September 2 — after the first strike left survivors. Lawmakers expressed concerns about the legality of that strike.

From introducing new legislation restricting funding for the Trump administration’s operations in the region, to urging the White House to release video footage of the second strike, there is growing interest from Democrats and some Republicans in reasserting their authority to formally start a military conflict.

Enhanced oversight from Congress will likely prompt the Trump administration to exercise more caution regarding ground strikes, perhaps pivoting and using new strategic tactics, according to experts.

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A Venezuelan ship was destroyed during a US military strike off Venezuela on September 2, 2025. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)

“At this point, I think we have to assume that increased congressional oversight will make military action inside Venezuela less likely, unless the White House makes a clearer case for it,” Jeff Ramsey, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Center for International Affairs think tank, said in an email to Fox News Digital.

Trump spoke weeks ago about the possibility of ground operations inside Venezuela, and said on Wednesday that ground strikes would begin “very soon.”

Katherine Thompson, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said that while she does not expect the administration to retreat from its broader border security mission, she said the administration is likely to “change its tactics” amid the “pain” of enhanced scrutiny from Capitol Hill.

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The consequences of that Lawmakers on Capitol Hill This could include limiting funds for operations in the district or failing to support any candidates still awaiting confirmation, Thompson said.

“I think in order to avoid some of those harsher political sanctions, the administration will likely have to change its strategy,” Thompson said.

For example, Thompson said she expects Trump to be more cautious about potential ground strikes inside Venezuela, given the possibility that both chambers of Congress could pass a joint resolution of disapproval through the War Powers Act opposing military activity in the region.

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The AUMF is a resolution approved by Congress that gives the executive branch the ability to use military force against specific targets. (Jason Reid/Reuters)

“Even if he vetoes, if Congress appears to have a veto-proof majority, that would be a huge indictment to face,” Thompson said.

To mitigate the impact of some of these actions from Capitol Hill, Thompson said the administration could propose an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to support military action in the region, where the administration can demonstrate that strikes fall within the scope of deterrence and that there is an imminent threat to the United States, Thompson said.

The AUMF is a resolution approved by Congress that gives the executive branch the ability to use military force against specific targets.

The Trump administration has undertaken a military buildup in the Caribbean and taken unprecedented steps — including deploying the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford — to the region as part of Trump’s war on drugs. Likewise, the administration has carried out more than 20 strikes targeting alleged drug boats since September.

The move also puts greater pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Socialist Republican Party, said in October that he believed Trump had made the decision that “it is time” for Maduro to go.

The White House declined to comment on whether it is seeking regime change in Venezuela, although it does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state and claims he is the leader of a drug cartel. For example, the Trump administration increased the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest in August to $50 million.

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The White House told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Trump, as commander in chief, has “full authority to use every element of American power to prevent the flow of drugs into our country.”

“As President Trump has said, all options are on the table as he works to combat the scourge of drug-related terrorism that has led to the needless deaths of thousands of innocent Americans,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “All of these decisive strikes were carried out in international waters against narco-terrorists who bring deadly poison to our shores.”

Democrats moved quickly to limit the Trump administration’s activity in Venezuela, and members of both parties pushed for a larger investigation into the second strike, which occurred on September 2.

For example, Sens. Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, and Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, Introduce a piece of legislation On Thursday he called for the Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act of 2025, which would prevent the Trump administration from using federal funding to launch military strikes in or against Venezuela unless it receives congressional approval.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced legislation on December 4, 2025, called the Venezuela Unauthorized Military Action Prohibition Act of 2025. (Bill Clark/Getty Images)

“We should not get bogged down in an unnecessary war with Venezuela — risking the lives of U.S. service members — without Congressional authorization and incomplete information about the administration’s goals, its legal justification, and the potential consequences of a protracted conflict that could drive migration and irreparably fracture Venezuela,” Kaine said in a statement Thursday.

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However, this measure does not place restrictions that prevent the United States from acting in self-defense against an armed attack or the threat of an imminent armed attack.

The legislation also comes directly after another war powers resolution was introduced to limit the Trump administration’s ability to launch strikes in the Caribbean.

While previous war powers resolutions have failed to muster support for passage in recent months, Kaine and Senate Minority Leader Chuck SchumerD.N.Y., Adam SchiffD-California, W Rand Paul,R-K., Introduced the War Powers Resolution Wednesday to prevent Trump from using US armed forces to engage in hostilities in or against Venezuela.

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These measures come after the Washington Post wrote a report on Friday claiming that the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth He allegedly ordered the killing of everyone on board the alleged drug boat in the September 2 operation. The Washington Post reported that a second strike was carried out to remove the remaining survivors on the boat.

The White House verified that a second strike occurred on September 2, 2025, but disputed that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued an initial order to ensure that all on board were killed. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)

The White House on Monday verified that a second raid had occurred that day, but disputed that Hegseth had issued an initial order to ensure everyone on board the plane was killed, when specifically asked about Hegseth’s instructions.

The White House also said on Monday that Hegseth authorized the head of US Special Operations Command, Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, to carry out the strikes, and that Bradley ordered and directed the second strike.

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Bradley, who was serving as commander of Joint Special Operations Command at the time of the strike, appeared before lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday for a closed-door briefing. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, told reporters afterward that Bradley “was very clear that he had no such order, not to leave them alive or to kill them all.”

“He received an order that was written down in great detail,” said Cotton, who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee.

However, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, said the briefing with Bradley only exacerbated his concerns about the strikes — and urged Trump to follow through on his agreement to release video footage of the second strike.

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“I am deeply disturbed by what I saw this morning,” Reed said in a statement Thursday. “The Department of Defense has no choice but to release the full, unedited footage of the September 2 strike, as the President has agreed to do.”

“This briefing confirmed my worst fears about the nature of the Trump administration’s military activities, and demonstrates exactly why the Senate Armed Services Committee has repeatedly requested — and denied — basic information, documents, and facts about this operation,” Reed said. “This should be the only beginning of our investigation into this incident.”

Reed also said that he and the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mo., have requested executive orders authorizing the operations, full videos of the strikes, and other documents as part of their oversight efforts.

Navy Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who was serving as commander of Joint Special Operations Command at the time of the strike, appeared before lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Dec. 4, 2025, for a closed-door briefing. (Monique Stober)

Meanwhile, the White House has routinely defended the legality of the strikes in recent months, supporting Bradley. For example, Hegseth said Tuesday that carrying out a follow-up strike on the alleged drug boat was the right decision.

In all, the Trump administration has carried out at least 21 strikes near Venezuela.

The most recent confirmed attack occurred on November 15. Although strikes in the Caribbean have been halted because of the difficulty of finding alleged drug boats, the Trump administration’s anti-drug campaign will continue, Hegseth said Tuesday.

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“We just started hitting the drug boats and putting the drug terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they were poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.