Rogue Republicans fail to stop Trump’s war powers… again

A handful of Senate Republicans joined Democrats to try to block Trump’s war powers so he could not use the military against Venezuela.

With pressure being applied by Trump, the group faltered, and Vice President JD Vance broke the tie to defeat the measure.

So, House Dems took their shot, but only two Republicans joined their cause, once again sending the bill down in flames.

Rand Paul leads the charge

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has been against the boat strikes from the outset, and as far as he is concerned, we are at war with Venezuela.

With the United States blocking Venezuela’s ports and seizing ships, Paul stated, “That is an act of war. It’s an ongoing war, to continue to take their oil; ongoing war to distribute it.

“I still hope it works out for the best, but we are still involved in an active war with Venezuela. We still have hundreds of ships with a 100 percent blockade of the coast.”

Paul also expressed doubts about the effort to dial back Trump’s war powers simply because he had not truly invaded Venezuela at this point.

Failure

When the war powers resolution first surfaced in the Senate, Donald Trump went nuclear, calling out the five Republicans who were siding with Dems, saying they should all be primaried and never be elected to office again.

The bullying worked, as Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Todd Young (R-IN) wilted and wound up voting against the measure.

This made the vote 50-50, which allowed Vice President Vance to cast the deciding vote to defeat the measure.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) later commented, "We have no troops on the ground in Venezuela. We're not currently conducting military operations there. But Democrats are taking up this bill because their anti-Trump hysteria knows no bounds."

Defeated Again

With the Senate measure failing, House Democrats were looking for some glory, but they too failed.

Only Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Don Bacon (R-NE) voted with Dems, once again leading to a tie, 215-215, defeating the measure.

Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) stated, “There are no boots on the ground. Democrats are asking us to vote on a resolution about a situation that literally does not exist. We do not have anybody there in Venezuela fighting. There are no tanks on the ground in Caracas. There are no snipers in the tree line. Doesn’t exist. Again, we are not at war.”

This was all meaningless anyway because Trump would never sign the legislation into law even if it did pass through both chambers. Not to mention, once the bill failed in the Senate, the House legislation was an exercise in futility.