Senate Republican leaders are working to avoid a rare floor defeat as senators are set to vote Thursday on whether to rein in President Donald Trump’s military campaign in Venezuela.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Majority Whip John Barrasso have lost very few floor votes since Republicans took the majority a year ago. The White House is also eager to stave off a vote of no confidence just five days after Trump ordered an operation to capture longtime Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“Republicans support what the president has done,” Barrasso told us. “It was an incredible act and the military was absolutely superb.”
But heading into the vote, there are a half-dozen undecided GOP senators, none of whom were immediately swayed by top Trump administration officials after a classified briefing on Wednesday.
The war powers resolution, pushed by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), needs a simple majority to advance. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has indicated he may break with his party, meaning that at least five Republican defections would be needed.
Who we’re watching. GOP Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Todd Young (Ind.) have yet to say how they’ll vote on the resolution.
A few of them said after Wednesday’s briefing that they still had significant unanswered questions about the administration’s short- and long-term plans when it comes to potential military action related to Venezuela.
“We were told that there are currently no boots on the ground. Is it an option? What I heard was that everything is an option,” Hawley said.
The Missouri Republican said separately that he would oppose U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela, believing that would require congressional approval.
Paul told reporters Wednesday that at least two Republicans he’s spoken with who opposed similar war powers efforts late last year are “thinking about” backing the latest push.
House war powers news. A group of House lawmakers, led by Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), will roll out a war powers resolution Thursday at noon. It’ll be functionally the same as the version that came just short of House passage in December.
This is news. A bipartisan duo of House members is unveiling a bill today aiming to fix longstanding problems stemming from the military’s current duty status structure. The existing setup often leaves Reserve and National Guard forces with pay and benefit disruptions when their missions and job functions change.
The proposed legislation from Reps. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.) and Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) would consolidate the more than 30 duty statuses into four broad categories, per a one-page summary of the bill.
Russia sanctions: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced late Wednesday that Trump has “greenlit” his long-stalled Russia sanctions bill. Graham said the bill could hit the Senate floor as soon as next week, but February is much more likely given that FY2026 appropriations will get priority on the floor for the rest of the month.
