WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of a dozen Democratic veteran members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday called for Congress to reassert its power to authorize war amid U.S. intervention in Venezuela and possibly beyond.
The Democratic lawmakers, led by Massachusetts 6th Congressional District Rep. Seth Moulton and New York 18th Congressional District Rep. Pat Ryan, spoke to the media following a briefing by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the situation in Venezuela, where U.S. forces captured President Nicolas Maduro in a Saturday raid. The rest of Maduro’s regime remains in power in Venezuela, and it is unclear whether further U.S. military action may be imminent.
Moulton, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in the war in Iraq, compared the situation in Venezuela to that war and recalled the different feelings he experienced at each stage of it.
“As an Iraq war veteran myself, I remember what it was like when the invasion went so well, and how proud of my Marines I was. I remember what it was like when the president said ‘mission accomplished,’” said Moulton. “I remember what it was like when it turned out the Bush administration lied to us about the intelligence, and their intentions, and kept changing their story about why we went to war in the first place.
“I remember what it was like when it became apparent the administration had no plan for what comes next, and I remember what it was like when the Bush administration presided over a disaster in Iraq,” Moulton continued. “I remember what the aftermath of that was like as more and more Americans died in a forever war, and the country descended into civil war and chaos. That is why I am skeptical of what is going on in Venezuela today.”
Moulton said he does believe Maduro to be “a bad guy,” but that the American people should not be lied to about why the country is getting involved in a war.
Maduro has been in power in Venezuela since the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013, and has employed an increasingly authoritarian rule to remain in power. The 2024 presidential election in Venezuela is widely believed to have been rigged in Maduro’s favor with opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez being found to have taken the most votes per a review of the voting receipts.
“The operation was successful, of course it was, because that is what America does,” said Moulton, referring to Maduro’s capture. “But we as members of Congress and the American people should not be lied to by any administration, and we should all ask the question about where our tax dollars, and where American lives, may be spent or wasted next.”
Speaking after Moulton, Ryan said Rubio and Hegseth “lied to our faces” when they claimed last month there was no goal of regime change or land attacks on Venezuela, and that the Trump administration would come to Congress before doing anything.
“The only moment of honesty this whole time was when Donald Trump that morning said this was about oil,” said Ryan.
The lawmakers had just attended a briefing by Rubio, who Ryan said displayed “a refusal to answer any substantive questions.”
Responding to questions from reporters, Ryan noted that a series of war powers resolutions have been introduced in Congress, including one introduced by Massachusetts 2nd Congressional District Rep. Jim McGovern that failed by one vote before the new year. There is a plan, Ryan said, to introduce more legislation “to make clear that we will not fund another forever war in the United States of America on our watch.”
A vote on a new form of that legislation is expected to take place first in the Senate Thursday, with the bill aimed at prohibiting Trump from further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval.
Massachusetts 3rd Congressional District Rep. Lori Trahan sat down with The Sun Tuesday morning in Lowell, when she said “nobody is denying the fact that Maduro was a horrific, illegitimate, repressive, undemocratic leader of Venezuela.”
“Venezuelan Americans … they are celebrating. The problem right now is that there is no plan. Secretary of War Hegseth has been talking about how this has been about drugs. Right after the attack, Secretary of State Rubio talked about this being about regime change, and in the president’s address for the country, he intimated it was about taking over the country, taking over oil,” said Trahan.
“I think now is a good time for congressional Republicans to say this is worthy of debate, this is worthy of the president laying the case out to the American people, us as representatives being open to debating that in a very transparent way, and holding this administration accountable,” she said.
Trahan and the lawmakers at Wednesday’s press conference questioned the actual monetary cost of the operation and potential future operations in South America.
“So what is the plan? Are we running the Venezuelan government? This is not something the president gets to decide on his own or with Stephen Miller, this needs to be brought to Congress so it can be debated,” said Trahan.
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