Republican Sen. Todd Young is seeking to "learn more" about the Trump administration's military pressure campaign on Venezuela, which could ultimately topple authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro.
Speaking to Axios, Young said "Congress isn't hearing enough — in any form, including a public forum." He went on to say that lawmakers need to be involved in the discussion of legal ramifications of the strikes.
"I think Congress needs to go further. Rather than just asserting our ability to authorize military force — which we certainly need to do — we also need to officially bring to close these conflicts and make clear that we have constitutional prerogatives that need to be consistently asserted," Young added.
The lawmaker has also requested a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to discuss the campaign, and asked the Upper House's Foreign Relations Committee to hold oversight hearings.
Young is not the only Republican expressing reservations about the way in which the Trump administration is conducting the campaign. Sen. Rand Paul joined a bill introduced by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, which will force a vote to stop Trump from unilaterally declaring war on the South American country.
Paul addressed the move in a social media publication, claiming "it's imperative that we make it clear that war powers reside with Congress, not the president."
Trump has lashed back at Paul in response. He recently dedicated him a social media post, asking "Whatever happened to 'Senator' Rand Paul?"
"He was never great, but he went really BAD! I got him elected, TWOCE (in the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky!), but he just never votes positively for the Republican Party. He's a nasty liddle' guy, much like 'Congressman' Thomas Massie, aka Rand Paul Jr., also of Kentucky (which I won three times, in massive landslides!), a sick Wacko, who refuses to vote for our great Republican Party, MAGA, or America First. It's really weird!!!"
Paul, however, is not standing down. On Tuesday he l rejected the administration's claim that the strikes were targeting smugglers carrying different drugs, including fentanyl.
"There is no fentanyl made in Venezuela. Not just a little bit, there's none being made. These are outboard boats that, in order for them to get to Miami, would have to stop and refuel 20 times," Paul said.
"It's all likely going to Trinidad and Tobago. There are a lot of reasons to be worried about this. Number one is the broader principle of when can you kill people indiscriminately when there's war. That's why when we declare war is supposed to be done by Congress. It's not supposed to be done willy nilly. When there's war you just kill people in the war zone, there are rules of engagement," Paul added.
He concluded by saying that "interdicting drugs has always been an anti crime activity where we don't just summarily execute people, we actually present evidence and convict them."
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