A U.S. Air Force crew chief guides a F-35A Lightning II after it landed at Ceiba, Puerto Rico, following military actions in Venezuela in support of Operation Absolute Resolve on Jan. 3, 2026. Senate Republicans broke with President Donald Trump on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2025, to advance a resolution requiring the president to seek explicit congressional approval before taking any further military action in Venezuela as the U.S. seeks to exert control over the country.  (Katelynn Jackson/U.S. Air Force)

WASHINGTON — Several Senate Republicans broke with President Donald Trump on Thursday to advance a resolution requiring the president to seek explicit congressional approval before taking any further military action in Venezuela as the U.S. seeks to exert control over the country.

The 52-47 procedural vote came days after an American military raid involving nearly 200 special operations forces and 150 aircraft captured the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, and followed several failed efforts last year to curb Trump’s campaign to strike vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

The move to assert Congress’ constitutional authority to declare war means the Senate will debate on the resolution and then vote on its final passage. It is unclear if the House would approve the measure, and Trump would be able to veto it if ends on up on his desk.

Most Republicans blocked attempts last year to prevent the president from striking Venezuela without congressional approval, calling the measures premature. But the raid prompted at least two Republicans previously opposed to the resolution to consider changing their votes, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told reporters on Wednesday.

Trump’s comments on Wednesday night that the U.S. might be involved in Venezuela for years to come may have also influenced senators, Paul said.

In addition to Paul, Republicans Susan Collins (Maine), Josh Hawley (Missouri), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Todd Young (Indiana) voted in favor of the resolution on Thursday. Democrat John Fetterman, of Pennsylvania, who had indicated he would vote against the measure, backed it.

Young, who voted against a previous war powers resolution concerning Venezuela, said he was concerned the administration’s stated aim to “run” the South American country could lead to a drawn-out campaign involving U.S. service members.

“I … am not prepared to commit American troops to that mission,” he said in a statement after the vote. “Although I remain open to persuasion, any future commitment of U.S. forces in Venezuela must be subject to debate and authorization in Congress.”

Trump lashed out at Young and the four other Republicans who sided with Democrats to move the resolution forward, saying they should “never be elected to office again” and Republicans “should be ashamed” of them.

“This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President’s Authority as Commander in Chief,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Some lawmakers have scoffed at the Trump administration’s description of the mission to seize Maduro as a one-off law enforcement operation rather than a military action, which would have required greater congressional oversight. The raid was carried out without briefing key members of Congress.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., a lead sponsor of the war powers resolution, said the administration’s argument “doesn’t really pass the laugh test.” He cited the continued mass buildup of naval assets around Venezuela as evidence of a protracted international intervention that has no clear legal authority.

Paul accused the administration of engaging in “designed subterfuge” to avoid giving Congress its rightful input.

“They don’t want this to be war, because [with] war, they would have to come to us,” he said.

Other Republicans argued Thursday that the actions in and around Venezuela are not amounting to the hostilities the 1973 War Powers Act aimed to limit. The law restricts a president’s ability to commit U.S. armed forces to hostilities without congressional consent.

Sen. Jim Risch, of Idaho, said the resolution was addressing a nonexistent conflict. He emphasized that there were no American forces deployed in Venezuela and defended the president’s ability as commander-in-chief to use military might to protect the U.S.

“To tell him to not do something or to stop doing something he’s not doing is nonsense,” he said. “The effect of this is to slap the president of the United States in the face. … It can have no practical effect because it’s trying to stop something that isn’t going on.”

Democrats contended that it was the job of Congress to provide oversight and scrutiny of the executive branch in matters of war and said it was imperative for lawmakers to act after Trump made threats against other countries following the raid in Venezuela.

“If we do not assert these powers, if we don’t stand up, not just for our branch of government but for the American people, there is no telling and no stopping what comes next, because the administration has made it clear that Venezuela is the opening salvo,” said Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. “Will it be Cuba next, or Colombia or Mexico or Greenland for crying out loud?”

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said this week that he will introduce a war powers resolution focused on Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory that Trump has repeatedly said should belong to the U.S.

War powers resolutions are privileged under Senate rules, meaning they are given prompt consideration and a vote.

Kaine said Tuesday there will be more attempts to rein in Trump on his actions and plans abroad, saying, “I think members of the Senate should go on the record about all of it.”