House Democrats are pushing forward with another attempt to rein in President Donald Trump‘s authority to conduct military operations abroad, using his escalating rhetoric over Greenland to justify their moves.
This week, Democrats will force a vote on a war powers resolution restricting Trump’s ability to engage in hostilities with Venezuela.
“This is not about drugs; this is about oil and regime change. It’s an insult to the intelligence of Americans to frame it as an arrest by the DOJ. Our troops are not pawns to be risked for the profits of oil companies and investment bankers,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said in the statement introducing the resolution.
Massie is leading the charge with Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Joaquin Castro (D-TX). The resolution is similar to one that already failed in the House in December by a 213-211 vote. At the time, Massie, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), and former Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene were the only ones to vote in favor of the resolution.
With slim House margins and an attendance problem among Republicans, Democrats would only need a few Republicans to join them to pass the measure this time. Democrats are also trying to tie Trump’s conduct in Venezuela to his recent threats to seize Greenland.
“The bipartisan war powers resolution I coauthored to stop this President from dragging us into a war for oil in Venezuela could come up for a vote this week. This is important,” Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) wrote on X in support of the resolution. “We will not send our service members into harm’s way in Venezuela, Greenland, or anywhere else for oil.”
The White House has argued that a war powers resolution is not needed because the president has Article 2 authority to defend the homeland from imminent threats posed by drug traffickers tied to Venezuela. Allies, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), have also noted that the United States is not engaged in hostilities with Venezuela, nor are there U.S. troops deployed in the country.
“We are not at war, we do not have U.S. armed forces in Venezuela, and we are not occupying that country,” Johnson said earlier this month. “Despite the claims by some of my colleagues, under the War Powers Act, there is no requirement for prior Congressional approval or prior notification.”
However, not every Republican shares that sentiment.
“It’s an ongoing war, to continue to take their oil; ongoing war to distribute it,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said during a Sunday appearance on NBC News’s Meet the Press.
The Constitution grants Congress, in Article I, Section 8, the sole power to declare war, but gives the president authority to direct the military. The last time Congress declared war was in 1942 during World War II.
“Central among these powers is Clause 11 of Article I, Section 8, which authorizes Congress to declare war,” the Constitution says.
DEMOCRATS READY WAR POWER BLITZ TO EXPLOIT A TRUMP ‘VULNERABILITY’
The War Powers Resolution was passed in 1973 in response to former President Richard Nixon’s overreach in the Vietnam War. He vetoed the bill, but with a two-thirds vote in both chambers, Congress was able to override the veto.
The resolution requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing troops into hostilities. It allows them to be deployed for a maximum of 60 days, with a possible 30-day extension, without congressional approval. Congress has the power to end this deployment through a joint resolution.