Congress divided after US captures Venezuela’s Maduro without authorization
The capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces has triggered an immediate and sharp divide on Capitol Hill. Republicans largely praised President Donald Trump’s decision, while Democrats warned the operation bypassed Congress and risks destabilizing the region.
A rare point of agreement and a hard break
Lawmakers from both parties agree on one central point: Maduro is not Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Where they sharply diverge is over how the U.S. removed him, and what happens next.
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the administration failed to justify unilateral military action or explain its endgame.
“Maduro is an illegitimate ruler,” Himes said in a statement on X, “but I have seen no evidence that his presidency poses a threat that would justify military action without congressional authorization, nor have I heard a strategy for the day after and how we will prevent Venezuela from descending into chaos.”
Himes called on the White House to immediately brief Congress on the legal basis for the operation and how the administration plans to prevent Venezuela from spiraling into chaos.
That concern is now turning to action.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Saturday he will force a vote next week on a bipartisan resolution declaring the United States “should not be at war with Venezuela absent a clear congressional authorization.”
“It is long past time for Congress to reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace and trade,” Kaine said, warning that unilateral action risks dragging the U.S. into open-ended conflicts.
Republicans frame the moment as historic
Republicans on intelligence committees and across Florida, home to the nation’s largest Venezuelan diaspora, quickly rallied behind Trump.
In a post on X, House Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., called the raid “a historic day in the Western Hemisphere,” arguing Venezuela could not begin rebuilding until Maduro was removed.
“Venezuela could never start the road back to the great nation it once was until Maduro was out of the way. I call upon the Venezuelan people to reclaim their freedom,” he wrote.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the interim government now faces a clear choice: continue drug trafficking and alliances with U.S. adversaries, or rejoin the international community.
“I urge them to choose wisely,” he wrote in a post on X.
Florida’s GOP cheers, Democrats urge caution
Florida Republicans were among the most vocal supporters, reflecting long-standing pressure from Venezuelan exile communities.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., praised Trump’s leadership, saying on X the operation made the U.S. and the hemisphere safer.
“A new day is here for Venezuela and Latin America. The United States and our hemisphere are safer because of President Trump’s leadership,” he wrote.
Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, R-Fla., blamed Maduro for drug trafficking and aligning Venezuela with Iran, China, Russia and Hamas.
“Our country has faced an unprecedented national security threat from the illegitimate Maduro regime,” he said in a statement reported by Politico.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., went further, calling the moment “this hemisphere’s equivalent of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.”
I have just spoken to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
President Trump has changed the course of history in our hemisphere. Our country & the world are safer for it.
Today’s decisive action is this hemisphere’s equivalent to the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
It’s a big day in…
— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) January 3, 2026
Even Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz welcomed Maduro’s capture, but said Trump’s decision to bypass Congress raised serious concerns.
“Cutting off the head of a snake is fruitless if it just regrows,” she warned in a statement in Politico, calling for answers about the lack of congressional involvement.
Democrats warn of constitutional and strategic fallout
Other Democrats were more blunt.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., who serves as ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that the U.S. actions in Venezuela “threatens to destabilize South America, will likely have no impact on the drug cartels, and could make the situation worse,” adding that it appears to violate international laws.
“For weeks, Secretary Rubio and the administration claimed that U.S. activities in the region were not aimed at regime change in Venezuela. Today’s military action, taken without consultation with or authorization from Congress, shows that Secretary Rubio misled the Congress and the American people,” Smith said. “The administration must immediately and truthfully brief Congress on its plans in the region and Congress, specifically the Republican majority, must stop abdicating its responsibility.”
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., also accused senior administration officials of misleading Congress about regime-change intentions and said the move risks isolating the U.S. globally.
“Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change. I didn’t trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress,” Kim wrote on X. “Trump rejected our Constitutionally required approval process for armed conflict because the Administration knows the American people overwhelmingly reject risks pulling our nation into another war.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Saturday’s attack was “not about drugs.”
“If it was, Trump wouldn’t have pardoned one of the largest narco traffickers in the world last month. It’s about oil and regime change,” she wrote on X, referencing the U.S. president’s pardoning of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez. “And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs.”
Graham Platner, a progressive Democrat and veteran running for Senate in Maine in the upcoming midterms, seized on the moment as evidence of unchecked executive power.
“We need to all turn out in opposition to this egregious failure of our government, and stop it,” he wrote along with a video message on Twitter.
GOP closes ranks, with a few early questions
Most Republicans ultimately backed the president, even those who initially raised alarms.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., in a post on X, called Maduro’s capture “a decisive action” and an important step toward justice for alleged drug crimes.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who first questioned the lack of authorization, later said he was satisfied after a call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, concluding the action likely fell within the president’s Article II authority and that no further military action is anticipated.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
