WASHINGTON (OSV News) ─ The U.S. Senate on Jan. 8 advanced a war powers resolution following the Trump administration's recent strike to remove deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, requiring congressional approval for Trump to take additional military action in Venezuela. The vote came as lawmakers are also questioning the administration's plans for Greenland and may consider a related measure to block military action there.
Five Republicans joined all 47 Democrats in voting to allow the resolution to advance to the Senate floor. The resolution, spearheaded by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is expected to have a full Senate vote the following week.
Kaine, who is Catholic, said in comments on the Senate floor Jan. 8 that he had "good conversations with colleagues, and many of them have asked me about the distinction between the execution of a valid arrest warrant and a larger military operation."
"I want to state very clearly that I do not challenge, nor does this resolution challenge, the execution of a valid arrest warrant against Nicholas Maduro. That valid arrest warrant bringing him to justice in the United States will be good for America and good for Venezuela, and we do not challenge that," Kaine said.
White House officials have characterized the raid on Venezuela as the execution of an arrest warrant for Maduro, who is expected to be tried on narco-terrorism charges in New York. But in the aftermath of the operation, Trump himself has stated that the U.S. is going to run Venezuela, with a focus on reviving and extracting its oil, potentially for years. Trump has also said that if Venezuela's government did not comply with U.S. demands, he was prepared to authorize further military action, emphasizing, "We're not afraid of boots on the ground."
"If there was ever a moment for the Senate to find its voice, it is now," Schumer said in comments on the Senate floor Jan. 8.
Trump took aim at the Republicans who voted in favor of the resolution in a social media post, writing on his website Truth Social that Paul, as well as Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Todd Young, R-Ind., "should never be elected to office again."
"This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President's Authority as Commander in Chief," Trump wrote.
Collins is seen as the incumbent Senate Republican who is most vulnerable in this year's midterm elections.
Days before the vote on the Venezuela resolution, Denmark and Greenland requested a diplomatic meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the Trump administration escalated rhetoric about acquiring Greenland for national security, while refusing to rule out military force to take the Arctic island. The semiautonomous territory is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO ally, and the comments set off alarm in Europe's capitals.
In response, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who is Catholic, introduced another measure as an amendment to a defense appropriations bill that would block funding for any such attempt on Greenland.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Jan. 6 that Trump "has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it's vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region," Leavitt said, adding the 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's disposal."
But asked at a Jan. 7 press briefing if she would rule out military action, Leavitt said, "The president's first option, always has been diplomacy," but that "all options are always on the table for President Trump."
Leavitt also indicated there are active discussions about a "potential purchase" of the island.
Rubio, who is Catholic, told Congressional lawmakers that Trump plans to buy Greenland rather than invade it, The New York Times reported Jan. 6. He made similar public comments to media Jan. 7 after briefing lawmakers on the situation in Venezuela.
"That has always been the president's intent from the very beginning. He said it very early on," Rubio told reporters at the Capitol. "I mean, this is not new."
Rubio also suggested he would meet with officials from Greenland and Denmark the following week.
However, the leaders of Greenland and Denmark rebuked Trump's interest in annexing the island, with Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen saying such comments "have no place between friends."
Despite the White House's rhetoric, Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., downplayed the prospect of the U.S. invading Greenland in comments to various media outlets. Thune told reporters at the Capitol that he does not see "military action being an option" in Greenland, NOTUS reported.
A hypothetical use of military force against Greenland by the U.S. would amount to an attack on a NATO ally under the terms of the alliance. NATO, which was implemented in 1949, considers an attack against one or several of its members as an attack against all, and pledges collective defense in the face of such a scenario.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate NATO Observer Group, said in a joint statement Jan. 6, "Denmark is one of our oldest and most reliable allies. Danish troops have fought and died alongside Americans in numerous conflicts, and Denmark was among the first to stand with us when NATO invoked Article 5 following the 9/11 attacks."
"Today, Denmark is significantly increasing its defense spending and remains a critical partner in Arctic security. This is an ally that has earned our unwavering respect," the pair said. "When Denmark and Greenland make it clear that Greenland is not for sale, the United States must honor its treaty obligations and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark. Any suggestion that our nation would subject a fellow NATO ally to coercion or external pressure undermines the very principles of self-determination that our Alliance exists to defend."
While Pope Leo XIV has not yet spoken about Greenland, the Holy Father raised the importance of respect for a nation's right to autonomy and self-determination in addressing the recent U.S. military action in Venezuela.
"This must guarantee the country's sovereignty, ensure the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution, respect the human and civil rights of all, and work to build together a serene future of collaboration, stability, and harmony, with special attention to the poorest who suffer due to the difficult economic situation," he said.
Father Tomaž Majcen, a Conventual Franciscan and pastor of Christ the King Church in Greenland's capital, Nuuk, Greenland's only Catholic parish priest, recently told OSV News, "People are worried, but they are also very clear: this is our land, our culture, our home."
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Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
