WASHINGTON \u2014 Sen. Lindsey Graham gave a categorical answer Tuesday when he was asked whether there\u2019s any way Congress will limit President Donald Trump\u2019s war powers after he ordered an operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Graham, R-S.C., told NBC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The unequivocal response, even from a Trump loyalist, captures the scarcity of GOP interest in reclaiming Congress\u2019 Article I powers to wage war after Trump ordered military strikes on Caracas. Trump has since suggested he’ll go further, saying the U.S. will \u201crun\u201d Venezuela, while keeping the door open to using ground troops and dialing up warnings to other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s rhetoric has alarmed U.S. allies around the world about the potential for further American intervention. His moves have also sparked criticism domestically from the Democratic opposition, along with a small group of Republicans, who say that he is acting illegally and that the Constitution requires him to get approval from Congress on matters of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House argues that the administration’s actions in Venezuela were related to law enforcement and don’t require congressional approval. And top Republicans, who control the House and the Senate, are offering support for Trump\u2019s operation, calling Maduro an illegitimate leader while downplaying the prospect that Trump will further ratchet up U.S. military action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch, R-Idaho, declined to say whether Trump would need permission from Congress to put U.S. troops on the ground to run Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to engage on that conversation right now,\u201d he said, downplaying Trump\u2019s words. \u201cThere\u2019s been suggestion that there would be boots on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he has a \u201csquillion\u201d questions about the Venezuela situation but thrice declined to say whether Congress would need to approve putting troops on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a long way from boots on the ground,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd every circumstance is different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump said Saturday his administration is \u201cnot afraid of boots on the ground\u201d in Venezuela while the U.S. runs the country and ensures the flow of oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One later in the day, Trump threatened a \u201csecond wave\u201d on Venezuela if its next set of leaders don\u2019t \u201cbehave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that \u201cColombia is very sick, too,\u201d like Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regarding Iran, he said, \u201cIf they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they\u2019re gonna get hit very hard by the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He declared \u201cCuba is ready to fall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Trump reiterated his desire to annex Greenland. \u201cWe need Greenland from a national security situation,\u201d he said, mocking Denmark, a NATO ally, and its ability to defend the semi-autonomous territory under its control. \u201cTo boost up security in Greenland, they added one more dogsled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is leading a push to force a Senate vote as early as this week on a war powers resolution to restrain Trump\u2019s authority to escalate military action in Venezuela, calling his moves \u201cillegal\u201d and declaring that there is \u201cno argument\u201d that Venezuela posed an imminent threat to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnly Congress can declare war \u2014 or in the modern phrase contained in the 1973 War Powers Resolution, authorize the use of military force in hostilities,\u201d Kaine said Tuesday on the Senate floor. \u201cA narrow exception has been long understood: The president as commander-in-chief has the power and duty to defend the nation from ongoing or imminent attack without prior congressional approval. … The administration has advanced no credible legal basis, under American or international law, to invade Venezuela, depose its leadership, seize its oil and run the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has championed Kaine\u2019s proposal, along with Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Schumer said Democrats have managed to get some Republicans to agree to vote for a new war powers resolution, \u201cbut not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s needed now more than ever with a reckless president,\u201d Schumer told reporters Tuesday. \u201cThey don\u2019t have any plans. You can\u2019t do things that way. And so war powers act is extremely, extremely important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, the Trump administration has work to do in persuading some Republicans who say they\u2019re not sold on what he\u2019s doing in Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping to get briefed tomorrow here. What is the situation on the ground? What are our objectives? What\u2019s our policy going forward? I don\u2019t have any idea on any of that stuff,\u201d said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, he sounded torn over whether Congress should step in or whether it should defer to the administration. He said he expects to get briefed Wednesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t know,\u201d Hawley said. \u201cI need to hear from them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. \u2014 who, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has backed Trump’s action in Venezuela downplayed his rhetoric about Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see military action being an option there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few hours later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said military action is an option in Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPresident Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it\u2019s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region,\u201d Leavitt said in a statement. \u201cThe President and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief\u2019s disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n