VIDEOS: House Republicans Prevent Enforcing War Powers on Trump
In the first debate on the House Floor over two separate war powers resolutions, Republicans exposed themselves
On Wednesday, Democrats introduced two war powers resolutions. The goal was to limit the White House’s framing of a law enforcement problem as a national security threat requiring the military, and unilaterally using it as a pretext for war. The resolutions aimed to enforce the War Powers Resolution of 1973, limiting presidential power to commit the US to a conflict without congressional approval. Both resolutions failed due to Republican pushback.
The first House resolution, the Hostilities Against Terrorist Groups Resolution, was introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY-05). Had it passed, it would have removed the US military “from hostilities with any presidentially designated terrorist organization in the Western Hemisphere,” unless Congress had declared war or authorized the specific use of military force. Meeks’ resolution had the support of a single Republican, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE-02).
“It doesn’t seem to be just about narcotics trafficking,” Meeks told a pool of reporters on Tuesday. “So if this is about regime change, it seems to me that the administration should say that’s what it is, and should come to Congress to ask for that authorization, which has not taken place.”
The second House resolution, the Venezuela Hostilities Resolution, was introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA-02). If passed, it would have removed the US military “from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.” McGovern’s resolution had the support of Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14), Thomas Massie (R-KY-04), and Don Bacon (R-NE-02).
Meanwhile, the Senate passed the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a 77-20 vote. In somewhat of a rebuke to Trump, the NDAA includes language that repeals the 1991 and 2003 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) related to the Iraq wars, restoring some power to Congress, and it would also force the White House to release the footage of boat strikes to Congress.
The Debate
During the debate over the first resolution, Republicans made their authoritarian principles obvious. They showed broad support for Donald Trump’s attempts to seek control over Latin America and take over Venezuela’s natural resources on behalf of US corporate interests, in which the Trump family will undoubtedly profit. Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL-18) opened the debate using horrifying imagery and hyperbole to continue Trump’s false narratives.
Rep. Meeks wasn’t having any of it.
Following Meeks was Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), who was implicated in my reporting on the interference in the recent Honduran election. Salazar invoked the illegal invasions of Panama and Grenada as net positives for the US. However, she left out the fact that both were“flagrant violations” of international law, according to the United Nations General Assembly. The global consensus at the time largely viewed both invasions as illegal under the UN’s prohibition on intervening in the internal affairs of other nations.
Meeks fired back at Salazar for not being vocal enough about Trump’s mass deportation machine, which has greatly impacted the Latino community in Miami. It’s an issue many Cubans and Venezuelans in her district have called her out for. Meeks took advantage of that voter dissatisfaction to put her in a corner, as she had no opportunity for a rebuttal.
Rep. Meeks then yielded some time to Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT-04), who targeted Rep. Mast with harsh criticism for attacking Democrats personally and deviating from the debate over the resolution. Himes pulled no punches in his impassioned speech, leaving Mast with little moral ground to stand on. Mast would again deviate from the debate, ignoring the criticism.
After Himes, Rep. Keith Self (R-TX-03) took to the floor to target Himes and added very little to the conversation by arguing for Trump to have unilateral power in the Caribbean. Self also urged Democrats to stop calling Donald Trump’s actions war crimes. Democrats did not yield and continued to do so throughout the debate.
Rep. Benny Thompson (D-MS-02) wasted no time calling what Trump is doing war crimes.
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37) highlighted the administration’s false narratives by presenting some basic facts that most of the general public already knows.
Conclusion
The hearing highlighted inconvenient truths that start with the myriad narratives presented by the White House in less than a year. The administration had once accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of being a dictator, then shifted to accusing him of being a drug smuggler, only to accuse him of being the leader of a Venezuelan gang (Tren de Aragua), and now to accuse him of being the leader of a cartel that doesn’t exist (Cartel de los Soles), thus casting doubts around the world about any of it.
In just 331 days, the Trump administration destroyed decades of anti-Venezuelan propaganda by consistently creating false narratives, only to then openly declare that the aggression against Venezuela is about taking ownership of the country’s vast resources and land. Trump and his cronies in both administrations have made it abundantly clear that a war against Venezuela is about oil, control, and crushing the will of the Venezuelan people, using powers that it claims it has and promised to employ against other Latin American and Caribbean nations.
If Trump attacks Venezuela, it will be on the premise used by former presidents Ronald Reagan to invade Grenada in 1983, and by George H.W. Bush to invade Panama in 1989: combating drug trafficking and saving American lives.
I’m an independent journalist digging deeper into the stories you see on the news. Find my work at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, Orinoco Tribune, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber or making a donation via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.
I remember duck & cover drills in grade school, as well as the draft in the 1960s. Despite our most hopeful propaganda, will they soon be back?
We have normalized state and corporate press censorship, the outright kidnapping of our own citizens, as well as the state killing of inconvenient Carribean residents for future enrichment of the usual suspects. If all this was just an Oliver Stone film, we could just get up and leave.
Nazi lover Rep. Self should have resigned ages ago.
We need a blue hammer to break the authoritarian maga majority next year. Good for Dems for going after the lying Republicans.