January 8, 2026
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are now publicly starting to push back on President Trump’s use of the military –specifically when it comes to Venezuela. And this may be a sign of things to come – especially as Trump continues to discuss the possibility of taking similar military action in Cuba and Columbia and possibly even “taking” Greenland. And for the record trump is not happy about any of this pushback.
Here’s what’s going on. This afternoon – five Senate Republicans joined all the Senate Democrats and Independents to advance a War Powers Joint Resolution. I’m going to tell you what that means in a second but before I do — it’s important to understand that today’s vote was not the final vote on this issue – this is not done yet. The final vote on this resolution could come in the Senate next week and would still need to pass the House and would still need the president’s signature to become law. But today’s action was very significant because it was the first time that a group of Republicans this size pushed back publicly against this Republican president. The five Republicans who said yes to advancing the war powers joint resolution were Senators: Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Todd Young of Indiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Josh Hawley of Missouri.
So let’s talk about what this war powers joint resolution is. It stems from the War Powers Resolution or War Powers Act of 1973. That law says the constitution gives Congress the sole power to declare war. And even though the constitution also says the president of the United States is the commander in chief of the United States military – he can’t just deploy our men and women in uniform into hostile situations whenever he feels like it. This law lays out three scenarios that the president can deploy the United States military. One – if congress declares war. Two – if the president has specific statutory authorization to do so or three if there is a national emergency because of an attack on the United States or on its armed forces. The law says in “every possible instance” the president *shall* consult with congress *before* introducing the United States armed forces into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.
So this new war powers joint resolution that is now advancing in the senate is short and sweet. It’s being brought up because the lawmakers who crafted it say when it comes to Venezuela — Trump has not met any of the requirements outlined in the war powers act to justify his deployment of the military– and until he does, “Congress hereby directs the president to terminate the use of united states armed forces for hostilities within or against Venezuela, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force.”
Now – as I mentioned President Trump is pissed. He posted to his social media page. He said Republicans should be “ashamed” of the five Republicans who voted yes. He named them and said they should “never be elected to office again.” Trump then goes on to argue – as some other republicans have argued – that this war powers resolution “greatly hampers American self defense and national security, impeding the president’s authority as commander in chief. He then goes on to say that the war powers act itself is “unconstitutional.”
Now – the fact is – the constitutionality of the war powers act has been a long-standing unresolved debate. The supreme court has never definitively ruled on it. On one side – some believe the war powers act infringes on a president’s constitutional authorities as commander in chief and on the other side – others believe the war powers act just reinforces congress’s constitutional authority to declare war.
The last point I want to make is – even if this war powers joint resolution passes in the senate it would still need to pass in the house. And even if it does – president trump will likely veto it. That then sets up a scenario where congress would have to override trump’s veto. It’s unclear if there is a veto-proof majority in either chamber to allow this war powers joint resolution to become law.
See how your lawmaker voted here.
Read the short War Powers Joint Resolution here.
Read the original War Powers Act from 1973 here.
Read President Trump’s post here.
