Posted on 01/03/2026 4:04:34 AM PST by RandFan
Did President Trump seek authority from Congress to attack Venezuela?
The short answer is no. There is no indication that Donald Trump sought or received advance authorization from Congress before ordering the strikes.
Last month, Trump publicly stated that he did not believe congressional approval was required to launch attacks against targets in Venezuela, including strikes on land. He said he might brief Congress but would not seek formal legal authorization.
In December, Republicans, joined by a small number of Democrats, voted down two separate War Powers resolutions in the House of Representatives that would have required congressional approval for future military action against Venezuela. As a result, Congress did not impose new statutory limits on the president’s authority.
What powers does Trump have to attack Venezuela? Under the U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war. However, the president serves as commander in chief of the armed forces, a role that presidents of both parties have interpreted as granting broad authority to use military force without a formal declaration of war.
The key modern statute governing this area is the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Under the law, the president may introduce U.S. forces into hostilities only in limited circumstances, including a national emergency created by an attack on the United States, its territories, or its armed forces. The Trump administration appears to be relying on this emergency rationale in the Venezuela case.
The law also requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing U.S. forces into hostilities or into foreign territory while equipped for combat. As of now, there is no public confirmation that such a notification has been submitted.
Once U.S. forces are introduced into hostilities, the War Powers Resolution gives the president 60 days to withdraw them..
(Excerpt) Read more at en.as.com ...
Well, the extensive collection of stats are increasingly dated since I stopped collecting them some years ago (try Open in the Internet Archive extension if any are 404), yet these testify to the decline being far from new. Another dated (if colorful) chart is here, by the grace of God.
It is there, but it is Libya (not Libyia) Airstrikes (2011 ) President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes in Libya without Congress’s approval.
Thank God I saved it!
bookmark
IS THE ‘48 HOUR NOTIFICATION” BEFORE OR AFTER??????
WORDING DOESN’T SEEM CLEAR
CONGRESS CANNOT CLEAN UP OBAMACARE FRAUD-—
WHY GIVE THEM POWER OVER ACTUAL KILLING WEAPONS?
Caesarism is the inevitable product of a legislature that has become both corrupt and incapable of governance in equal measure.
I voted for this.
“irstrikes (2011 ) President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes in Libya without Congress’s approval.”
I was thinking of (I think) 1982 when Reagan bombed Gaddafi’s actual house because he foolishly had his military HQ there.
There’s a lot of talking at cross purposes here. I’m as glad as anyone to see Maduro gone. But from all reports so far, Trump is just winging it. And there is enormous downside risk.
So far, he’s been lucky. Maduro didn’t dodge capture; we got our man. Kudos to the team that pulled that off. But if they had missed?
What if an American chopper had been shot down and Americans had been killed or captured?
It’s been half a day. No Maduro loyalists have started shooting. Yet. Maybe they won’t. But what if they do?
Is there a post-Maduro transition team ready to step in? Apparently not; that seems to be something that is being improvised right now.
At last report, Trump still says he doesn’t want American boots on the ground and doesn’t want to get involved in nation building. Except that he wants to rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry and make Venezuela great again. So no nation building; just MVGA. Truth Social will let us know the plan as it evolves.
At last report, Trump is counting on Maduro’s Vice President to cooperate and be a reliable partner. Sure. What could go wrong? A gangster regime staffed with Maduro loyalists in all positions of power is going to change its spots overnight? Right, chief.
But there will be no American boots on the ground. Sure, chief.
And Congress is going to fund this, because a Republican Congress with whisker thin majorities in both the House and Senate — that can barely agree to turn on the lights — is in for whatever Truth Social announces day to day, and nevermind that Trump has no plans to even brief them. Sure, chief.
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder — the one with the clear vision who would not have blundered into war and would not have fatally compromised the plan in the event of war — had it right: “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
Trump doesn’t even seem to have a plan, beyond staging a well-executed snatch and grab in the middle of the night. He’s been lucky so far.
But something always goes wrong. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take action, but Trump needs to build a support network that can survive the first bump in the road.
I have an idea. Maybe Trump can haul GWB’s “Mission Accomplished” banner out of storage and drape it in front of the White House. Because we know that nothing will go wrong, and Trump has no apparent backup plan to handle downside risk. He thinks he is the master of chaos and is content to improvise.
No, not at all: I copied the html from a post here , without realizing that I had included the poster's quote (in italics) which I was responding to. My apologies.
Missing context = this was not an act of war. There were diversionary explosions and special forces snatched a man with a bounty on his head. It was a police action.
I am not sure which act it being referred to.
I .. am looking for clarity.
More are now.
“He just needs to inform them.”
And he has. Publicly.
I believe there is a process. He has 48 hours.
I am sure Johnson and Jeffries were told this morning. Probably around 4 AM. I am sure Rubio loved waking them up.
Who gives a crap what the feckless congress critters think about any thing.
If the nature of this effort to capture Maduro was used to get congressional authorization the Dems would have leaked it. By the time it was authorized, Maduro would have set a trap for U.S. forces.
Democrats leaked a draft of the Supreme Court’s opinion overturning abortion rights.
We the People are the gravest threat facing We the People. A critical mass of We the People vote for communists (and worse), sending them to Congress and to the several State governments.
Hakeem Jeffries ...
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