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A group of Democratic and Republican U.S. senators filed a resolution on Wednesday that would block U.S. military action against Venezuela without congressional approval, after U.S. President Donald Trump said a land campaign would begin shortly.
U.S. troops have carried out at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since early September, killing at least 83 people as Trump escalates a military buildup against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
Trump has been weighing options, including an attack on Venezuelan territory, for a campaign his administration calls an effort to stop the supply of illegal drugs that have killed Americans. Maduro has denied having any links to the illegal drug trade.
Trump has told reporters at the White House repeatedly in the past two days that a land attack would start “very soon.”
Responding to his comments, Democratic Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia, Chuck Schumer of New York and Adam Schiff of California and Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said they filed their war powers resolution.
WATCH | ‘Not just Venezuela’:
Trump threatens strikes on any country trafficking drugs into the U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to expand his crackdown on drug trafficking during a cabinet meeting, suggesting he’d order land strikes on Venezuela and attacks on any country transporting illegal drugs into the U.S.
The lawmakers, who have tried repeatedly to rein in Trump’s aggression against Venezuela, had said on Tuesday they would file a new resolution to force a congressional vote on the issue if the administration launched an attack.
But on Wednesday they said Trump’s comments had prompted them to go ahead.
“We are being dragged into a war with Venezuela without legal basis or congressional authorization, and the Senate must be prepared to stop an illegal war that would needlessly place at risk thousands of American service members,” Schiff said in a statement.
Under U.S. Senate rules, a war powers resolution is privileged, meaning it must be called up for a vote in a matter of days.