Congressional Democrats rage at Trump’s Venezuela operation

Democratic lawmakers railed against President Donald Trump’s overnight military operation in Venezuela on Saturday that resulted in the successful capture and indictment of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Congressional Democrats argued Trump lacked legal authority and that it was counter to American interests to use military force against Maduro’s regime. Republican lawmakers largely praised Trump’s military operation with those representing South Florida’s large Venezuelan community describing it as an “historic day” for the Venezuelan people and Latin America.

“Second unjustified war in my life time,” Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat with reported presidential ambitions, wrote on X shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday. “This war is illegal, it’s embarrassing that we went from the world cop to the world bully in less than one year. There is no reason for us to be at war with Venezuela.”

Democratic New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth “blatantly lied to Congress” about the Trump administration’s objective in Venezuela.

“Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change,” Kim wrote on X.

The New Jersey Democrat also argued the military operation “put Americans at risk in Venezuela and in the region.” A U.S. official told The New York Times there were no casualties during the military operation.

Across the Capitol, House Democrats similarly blasted Trump’s use of force against Venezuela, which appeared to be the most direct military intervention in Latin America since former President George H.W. Bush’s invasion of Panama in 1989.

“He says we don’t have enough money for healthcare for Americans—but somehow we have unlimited funds for war??” Connecticut Rep. Jim McGovern, the lead Democrat on the influential House Rules Committee, wrote on X.

Florida Republicans lauded Trump’s capture of Maduro on Saturday following the successful military operation.

“Thank you, President Donald J. Trump, for changing the course of history in our hemisphere,” Republican Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who spoke to Rubio following the successful military operation, wrote on X. “This is a historic day in Florida, home to the largest Venezuelan, Cuban, and Nicaraguan exile communities in the nation.”

“A new day is here for Venezuela and Latin America,” Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott wrote on X. “The United States and our hemisphere are safer because of President Trump’s leadership. God bless America and God bless the people of Venezuela!”

Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee wrote Saturday that Trump likely had legal authority to conduct the military operation.

“This action likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack,” Lee wrote on X after speaking with Rubio.

He also said U.S. military action in Venezuela was likely over with the seizure of Maduro, according to his conversation with Rubio.

The Trump administration has repeatedly characterized Maduro as an illegitimate leader who led a cartel designated as a terrorist organization to traffic drugs into the United States.

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