Vance Casts Tie-Breaking Vote To Defeat Senate ‘War Powers’ Challenge to Trump
The Senate on Tuesday narrowly rejected a Democratic-led effort to curb President Donald Trump’s authority to conduct military operations against Venezuela, with Vice President JD Vance stepping in to break a 50–50 tie and preserve the administration’s freedom of action.
The resolution, introduced by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, would have required President Trump to seek explicit congressional authorization before taking any additional military action against the Venezuelan regime. The measure was defeated by a 51–50 vote after Vance cast the decisive tie-breaker.
Supporters of the resolution sought to invoke the War Powers Act in response to recent U.S. military activity involving Venezuela, arguing that Congress must reclaim its constitutional role in authorizing the use of force. Kaine claimed the vote highlighted what he described as an erosion of legislative authority in favor of the executive branch.
Republicans countered that the resolution was both premature and unnecessary. GOP leaders stressed that the United States is not engaged in sustained hostilities that would trigger the War Powers Act and noted that the Trump administration has repeatedly assured lawmakers there are no plans to deploy U.S. ground troops or escalate military involvement.
Those assurances proved pivotal. Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana—both of whom had initially backed advancing the resolution—ultimately reversed their positions after receiving direct commitments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Their shift helped Republicans block the measure and maintain control over the Senate’s agenda.
Young said Rubio pledged that before “any major military operation in Venezuela,” the administration would “come to Congress” and seek approval, according to CNN.
Democrats vowed to continue pressing for increased congressional oversight, warning that unchecked executive power could set dangerous precedents for future administrations.
The resolution drew bipartisan support from a small faction of Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who co-sponsored the measure alongside Kaine, as well as Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Paul said he had a “spirited conversation” with the president last week about the operation and dismissed the administration’s position that no war is underway as an “elaborate ruse.”
“If you have 1000 boats or 100 boats off of a country’s coast, you’ve already bombed their capital, and you’re now preventing any boats from coming in and out and taking all their oil. Are you at war with that nation?” he told CNN.
“I think it’s a disservice to the people who put their lives on the line that we’re not calling it a war. So we play games. And people need to point out that, frankly, this is an elaborate ruse that’s being perpetrated on the American people,” he added.
Murkowski defended her vote in a statement Wednesday night, saying the war powers resolution “reaffirms Congress’s Article I responsibility to authorize hostilities and ensures that decisions of this magnitude receive appropriate debate and oversight.”
President Trump, however, has been unequivocal in rejecting the premise behind the legislation. Earlier this week, he echoed longstanding arguments from constitutional scholars by labeling the War Powers Act of 1973 an unconstitutional infringement on the president’s authority as commander-in-chief.
Vice President Vance reinforced that view during a press conference.
“Second of all, as the president, I believe himself, has already said every president, Democrat or Republican, believes the War Powers Act is fundamentally a fake and unconstitutional law,” he said.
“It’s not going to change anything about how we conduct foreign policy over the next couple of weeks, the next couple of months and that will continue to be how we approach things,” Vance added.
Following the vote, President Trump sharply criticized the Republicans who initially backed the resolution.
“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again,” Trump said on Truth Social.