President Donald Trump is challenging Congress like never before.
Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are scheduled to appear in a New York City federal court at noon today. The pair were seized by U.S. military forces in a stunning raid late Friday night, one that set off a political crisis in both Caracas and Washington.
Trump and top administration officials spent weeks telling Congress that the president wasn’t seeking a regime change in Venezuela as he ordered a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean, yet it turns out that was precisely the goal. That message was orchestrated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a former Senate Intelligence Committee chair who wouldn’t have accepted such claims when he was in Congress.
Trump also told voters during the 2024 campaign that he wasn’t interested in foreign policy adventures or starting “endless wars.” Trump’s focus is on ending these conflicts, not starting them. GOP lawmakers parroted those talking points during the election and as the administration backed his campaign to strike alleged drug-smuggling boats off the coast of Venezuela.
But Trump and other senior officials now say that he isn’t afraid to put U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela.
Rubio also said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that the Navy would continue to “quarantine” Venezuelan oil exports “until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interests of the Venezuelan people are met.” Rubio didn’t define what those conditions were, but he repeatedly mentioned the Maduro regime’s ties to Hezbollah and Iran.
Trump again told reporters Sunday night that “we’re in charge” of Venezuela.
The Donroe Doctrine. Since Trump’s return to office nearly a year ago, he’s pushed the boundaries of executive power further than any president in decades. But Maduro’s capture represents a dramatically new level of executive authority. Rubio said the Trump administration was involved in a hybrid law-enforcement action backed by massive military force and didn’t need congressional authorization for anything – at least not at this point.
“There’s not a war,” Rubio insisted during an interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “We are at war with drug trafficking organizations, not a war against Venezuela.” Rubio claimed Maduro was “the leader” of the Cartel de los Soles, a drug cartel with ties to the Venezuelan military. Rubio noted that Maduro had initially been indicted by a U.S. grand jury in 2020 — during the first Trump administration.
Faced with this unprecedented situation, Democrats are looking to force votes on a War Powers Resolution as early as possible, although some of their more progressive members are already calling for Trump’s impeachment. The Senate will vote this week on Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) war powers effort.
We scooped Sunday that Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine are heading to the Hill today at 5:30 p.m. to brief lawmakers. These sessions will include top lawmakers on the House and Senate Armed Services, Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs panels, as well as the “Gang of Eight,” the bipartisan party leaders from both chambers and top members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees.
Trump himself will be at the Kennedy Center to talk to House Republicans Tuesday. This is envisioned as a rally, of sorts, at the beginning of a busy 2026.
What the Hill will be asking. There are a ton of questions that Congress wants answers on. We spoke to a dozen or so lawmakers and top-level aides over the weekend. Here’s what they’re watching for:
1) Will there be U.S. troops on the ground inside Venezuela? Trump says he isn’t afraid of that possibility, but Rubio and other administration officials downplayed such a scenario. How does the Trump administration expect to secure control of Venezuelan oil without U.S. troops? What if there’s unrest inside Venezuela? And what exactly does the administration plan to do in Cuba or Colombia?
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday night, “You just wait for Cuba” — intimating that Trump will take action against the longtime U.S. nemesis.
2) Democrats — extremely skeptical of anything Trump says or does — will press senior administration officials about previous testimony that they weren’t seeking regime change in Venezuela.
Democrats are also hammering Trump over how this Venezuelan campaign won’t help average Americans or the U.S. economy.
At the same time, there’s some political risk for Democrats here. Ridding Venezuela of Maduro is clearly an optimal outcome. Plus, it’s already happened. While some Democrats are calling for Trump’s impeachment, they remain the loud fringe right now. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are taking a much more cautious approach as they see how events unfold.
3) Cuban House Republicans from Florida are a power center here. Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos Giménez and Maria Elvira-Salazar all represent the heavily Cuban and Venezuelan populations in and around Miami. They’re the voices to pay attention to — and you should expect the House Republican leadership to elevate them, especially Díaz-Balart, a key Rubio ally and friend.
But there’s some tension. This trio has been close allies of María Corina Machado, who was banned from running in the 2024 presidential election. Yet Trump said Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, isn’t popular enough to be president of Venezuela in the post-Maduro era.
During a news conference in Florida, Díaz-Balart erupted at a reporter who suggested that Republicans had abandoned their support for Machado.
4) This moment will be clarifying for the GOP’s future. There’s the America Only crew, which includes Tucker Carlson, soon-to-be gone Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and others in the right-wing media/podcast world. On the opposite side, there’s Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Graham and hawks in the Trump administration. Not to mention: Vice President JD Vance and his worldview versus Rubio.
Also, the Republican leadership – in the House at least – is going to have to navigate a GOP rank-and-file that will bristle at any focus on Venezuela due to fears that it’ll detract from attention on the economy, which will be the top issue for voters in November. Republican leaders say it’s time for the rank-and-file lawmakers to walk and chew gum.
