Senate GOP moves to block Dems' war powers push, preserve Trump's authority in rare move

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The ‘Journal Editorial Report’ panel breaks down President Donald Trump’s justification for the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as the Senate advances a war powers resolution.

Senate Republicans are mulling an arcane move that, if successful, would kill the bipartisan push to rein in President Donald Trump's war authority in Venezuela.

The Senate is a chamber that lives and dies by procedure. It guides how bills are considered and how senators speak on the floor, and Republicans hope that a procedure once used by Senate Democrats will work in their favor to nullify Sen. Tim Kaine’s, D-Va., war powers resolution.

Republicans are considering making a point of order to table the resolution and argue that because there are no troops on the ground in Venezuela, nor active combat involving U.S. forces, Kaine’s bid is moot.

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Senate Republicans are considering a rare procedural move to nuke the bipartisan push to rein in President Donald Trump's war powers in Venezuela. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

But whether Republicans can muster support to kill the resolution with the rare move remains to be seen. Five Senate Republicans broke ranks to advance the war powers push last week, and the point of order can pass or fail by a simple 50-vote majority.

When asked if the votes were there to effectively turn off the bipartisan push, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said, "Uncertain."

Still, Thune made the case that the resolution was likely not germane and able to be turned off, because no actual fighting was happening in Venezuela.

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President Donald Trump takes questions from members of the press aboard Air Force One on Jan. 11, 2026, while flying back to the White House from Palm Beach, Fla. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

"I think that it's pretty clear, in my view at least, that there are no hostilities that exist today, which, as I've suggested before, to me at least means that shouldn't be accorded privilege on the floor, that expedited consideration on the floor for something that doesn't exist at the moment," Thune said. "But nevertheless it’s all about the votes."

Senate Democrats made the same argument successfully in 2024 against a war powers resolution from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. That push was geared toward ending U.S. involvement with the operation of a floating pier off the coast of Gaza.

Kaine’s resolution is more forward-looking, however, and if passed, would require that Congress have oversight authority over future military action in Venezuela. The Trump administration has reiterated that there are no boots on the ground in the country and made assurances to several Senate Republicans that no future military action is planned after the success of Operation Absolute Resolve.

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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is facing backlash from the MAGA base after voting with Democrats and a small group of Republican senators to advance a war powers resolution related to Venezuela. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Whether Republicans can actually kill the resolution before it ever reaches a final vote and possibly a lengthy marathon amendment process known as a "vote-a-rama," will ultimately be a test of Senate GOP leadership’s and the White House’s lobbying abilities to flip the five Republicans who pushed back against Trump.

But Trump’s repeated attacks against the cohort of Republicans who sided with Senate Democrats could backfire and see the resolution pass.

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Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Todd Young, R-Indiana, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., will all be under a microscope on Wednesday.

Collins reaffirmed on Tuesday that she was still in favor of the war powers resolution, and Paul, who is a co-sponsor of the legislation, is unlikely to budge.

A source told Fox News Digital that Hawley, however, flipped his position on the matter and would support the point of order after getting assurances from Trump officials that no boots would be on the ground in the country.