Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson called the U.S. military\u2019s recent operation in Venezuela an \u201cincredible success\u201d shortly before voting against a resolution that would require Congress to sign off on further military action in the country.<\/p>\n
U.S. air strikes in and around the capital city of Caracas on Saturday killed 100 people<\/a> including civilians and military personnel, according to Venezuelan officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n Special forces also captured Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who are being charged in federal court with narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.<\/p>\n News with a little more humanity<\/p>\n WPR\u2019s \u201cWisconsin Today\u201d newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s undeniably good that Maduro is no longer running Venezuela,\u201d Johnson said in an interview with WPR\u2019s \u201cWisconsin Today<\/a>\u201d Thursday morning. \u201cMaduro was not the legitimate president of Venezuela. He was running Venezuela as a narco-terrorist state.\u201d<\/p>\n Congress was not notified of the operation in advance, which some members of Congress say violated a law called the War Powers Resolution<\/a>. A new resolution that would require congressional approval before further military action in Venezuela advanced in the Senate by a vote of 52-47<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n Johnson joined most of his Republican colleagues in opposing the measure.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a president who has ever recognized the constitutionality of the War Powers Act. It\u2019s never been really argued in front of the Supreme Court,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cOur Constitution gives the President of the United States a great deal of power in terms of dealing with foreign relations and national security. Previous presidents of both parties have utilized that power.\u201d<\/p>\n President Donald Trump said the U.S. will take control of Venezuela\u2019s vast oil reserves. According to a fact sheet<\/a> from the Energy Department, \u201cFunds (from oil sales) will be disbursed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the U.S. government,\u201d which Johnson is encouraged by.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the way we\u2019ll be able to transition Venezuela to a country that is more in line with Western countries and our economies, for the benefit of the Venezuelan people,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cTake the oil, sell it in the open market and deposit it into an account \u2014 not the Federal Reserve, but a separate account that will then be used to pay, for example, civil servants in Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n The administration has not specified how much of the money from oil sales will go to Venezuela.<\/p>\n