Footage released by the US shows a strike on an alleged drug trafficking operation in the Caribbean near Venezuela’s shores. (Screen captures)
Mexico City, Mexico, October 9, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The United States Senate narrowly rejected a resolution Wednesday that sought to limit President Donald Trump’s authority to conduct military strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela.
The resolution, introduced by Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff, would have required the White House to seek congressional approval before carrying out further attacks in the Caribbean Sea that Schiff labelled as “unconstitutional.”
“We are not at war with Venezuela, and Americans do not want to be dragged into a war with Venezuela because this White House wrongly believes they can kill anyone they want, without regard for the law or Congress,” said Senator Patty Murray.
The 48-51 vote fell mostly along party lines, with only two Republicans voting in favor of the resolution. Senator John Fetterman voted against the resolution, while CIA officer and Democrat Senator Elissa Slotkin said she supported the strikes but wished that Trump would seek congressional consent first.
“If the Trump administration wants to be at war against a terrorist organization, they should come to Congress, notify us, and seek our approval […] I actually have no real problem going against cartels,” said Slotkin during Wednesday’s debate.
Slotkin also echoed the White House claims that members of organized crime groups are legitimate targets for assassination due to their role in drug trafficking.
Legal experts have condemned the US military’s lethal strikes as extrajudicial executions and an overreach by Trump that extends beyond the sort of faculties previous US presidents had granted themselves in the so-called war on terror. Analysts have likewise questioned the excessive use of force as opposed to Coast Guard interception procedures against vessels suspected of narcotics smuggling.
The US Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued a classified opinion asserting that the president can authorize lethal force against numerous cartels, including those not publicly designated as terrorist groups, due to the alleged imminent threat they pose.
Alleged drug traffickers are considered by the US justice system to be criminals with due process rights, making this opinion a dramatic departure from international norms.
“If the OLC opinion authorizing strikes on cartels is as broad as it seems, it would mean DOJ has interpreted the president to have such extraordinary powers that he alone can decide to prosecute a war far broader than what Congress authorized after the attacks on 9/11,” Sarah Harrison, senior analyst at the Crisis Group, told CNN who first reported in the opinion.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has become one of the loudest advocates of the extrajudicial assassination policy, has nonetheless insisted the president has the constitutional authority to act against “imminent threats” abroad.
The failed effort to enforce congressional authority follows a recent decision by the Trump White House to suspend diplomatic contact with Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. Trump also recently notified Congress that the US is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
Qatar has reportedly stepped into the fray as a would-be mediator between the United States and Venezuela, attempting to maintain back-channel dialogue even as formal diplomacy breaks down. The emirate previously acted as a mediator in talks between Caracas and Washington during the Biden administration, with former White House advisor Juan González leading the US delegation.
Maduro has pushed for dialogue with Trump since his return to the White House but has faced resistance from the US president who reports indicate has grown frustrated with what he sees as the Venezuelan leader’s refusal to give up power voluntarily. The administration is reportedly weighing military action by bombing alleged drug targets inside Venezuela.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, who has been leading the country’s efforts to prepare for an act of US aggression, warned that the population must be ready for any scenario.
“They know they are lying, just as they have lied throughout history to start wars in the world, to seek resources from other parts of the world, they want to do the same with Venezuela, for its wealth,” said Padrino in reference to Washington’s “narcoterrorism” accusations against Caracas.
Since mid-August, the White House has stationed at least eight warships, aircraft, and an estimated 4,500 troops in the Caribbean near Venezuela in a purported mission against US-bound drug trafficking. Factoring a growing build-up in US bases in Puerto Rico as well, the US has deployed a total of 10,000 troops to the region.
Edited by Andreína Chávez Alava in Caracas.
