Five Republicans side with Democrats as Senate advances war powers bill to block Trump from further action in Venezuela | Today News

The US Senate passed a resolution on Thursday that will prevent President Donald Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela with congressional approval.

All Democrats and five Republicans voted to advance the war powers resolution, which passed with a 52-47 lead, and now will see a voting next week for final passage. However, there is no chance of this bill becoming a law, since in order for that to happen, Trump himself would need to sign the same.

However, this was a significant gesture, considering the Republicans control both the Senate as well as the House of Representatives, and pointed at an unease among the GOP faithful over Trump's military actions.

Backers of the proposal had earlier told Reuters that the measure could advance in a close vote.

The bill comes days after the US captured Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, in a dramatic military raid in Caracas, the capital of the country. Senators voted on the latest in a series of war powers measures introduced since the administration ramped up military pressure on the country with attacks on boats off its coast in September.

Republicans, however, have been blocking such proposals. However, the earlier was won with a narrow margin of 49-51 after two GOP senators backed the Democrats in supporting a resolution in November 2025. The senators were then informed by the administration that they did not plan to topple the Venezuelan government or conduct military strikes on the Latin American country's territory.

After the capture of the Venezuelan president and his wife, some Democrats in public as well as Republicans in private have been accusing the government of misleading the US Congress, as per Reuters.

With the capture of Maduro, some are now afraid that Trump might launch a military action to capture Greenland from Denmark.

Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who co-sponsored the resolution, told a press conference ahead of the vote, "I spoke to at least two Republicans today who did not vote for this resolution previously who are thinking about it."

"I can't guarantee you how they vote, but at least two are thinking about it, and some of them are talking publicly about their misgivings over this," Paul had said, speaking beside Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, another leader of the resolution.