The House voted down a Democratic war powers resolution that would have barred President Trump from deploying troops to Venezuela after a late-arriving Republican cast the deciding ballot. The tied vote highlighted Speaker Mike Johnson’s narrow GOP majority and revealed growing Republican unease over the president’s foreign-policy moves. Democrats argued Congress must reassert its authority after a surprise raid that captured President Nicolás Maduro; the administration maintains there are no US troops in Venezuela and vowed to seek congressional approval before major operations.
House Rejects Measure That Would Have Barred Trump From Deploying Troops To Venezuela
Mike Johnson at a press conference on Capitol Hill.Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/Reuters(Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/Reuters)
The US House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a Democratic-backed war powers resolution that would have barred President Donald Trump from deploying US military forces to Venezuela. The measure fell short after a tied vote was broken when a Republican rushed back to the Capitol to cast the decisive ballot.
Vote Drama Exposes Narrow GOP Majority
The tied outcome underscored Speaker Mike Johnson’s precarious control of the Republican majority. House leaders kept the vote open for more than 20 minutes while Representative Wesley Hunt — who had been campaigning for a Texas Senate seat — hurried back to Washington to register the deciding vote.
Democrats objected on the House floor, accusing Republican leaders of violating chamber procedure as the vote was held open. Two Republicans, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, crossed party lines and voted with all Democrats in favor of the measure.
What The Resolution Would Have Done
The war powers resolution directed the president to withdraw any US forces from Venezuela and sought to limit the executive’s ability to initiate major military operations there without congressional authorization. The administration told senators last week that there are currently no US troops on the ground in Venezuela and pledged to seek congressional approval before launching major operations.
Democrats argued congressional action was needed after what they described as a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — an operation they say left lawmakers uninformed and raised questions about executive overreach.
“Donald Trump is reducing the United States to a regional bully with fewer allies and more enemies,” said Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Broader Stakes: War Powers And Party Divisions
The vote is the latest test of how much restraint House Republicans will place on a president who campaigned on pulling the US away from foreign entanglements but has increasingly turned to military options abroad. To date, most House Republicans have declined to use war powers votes to check Mr. Trump.
Brian Mast, Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee, accused Democrats of moving the resolution out of "spite" toward Mr. Trump. Still, some Republicans publicly expressed unease with the president’s foreign-policy posture — including controversial comments about Greenland and tense exchanges with NATO allies.
In the Senate, a similar war powers resolution was initially deadlocked last week until Senator J.D. Vance broke the tie. Senate Republicans ultimately voted down that measure after the administration persuaded two GOP senators to withdraw their support.
Representative Don Bacon said he supported the House resolution out of frustration with repeated threats and aggressive rhetoric from the White House, even though the measure applied only to Venezuela: “I’m tired of all the threats,” he said.
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