Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has issued an unusually sharp warning over President Donald Trump’s posture toward Venezuela.
Schumer is accusing the administration of edging the country “closer and closer to another costly foreign war” without congressional authorization.
In a strongly worded statement, Schumer blasted Trump’s recent escalation against the Venezuelan regime and argued the president had overstepped his constitutional authority.
“President Trump’s reckless actions towards Venezuela are pushing America closer and closer to another costly foreign war,” Schumer said.
“Under our Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war — not the President — and Congress has not authorized the use of military force against Venezuela.”
Schumer warned the administration against entering another overseas conflict, insisting that “Americans are tired of endless foreign wars that cost the lives of countless American service members and drain precious resources.”
“This is not an America First policy,” he added.
The New York Democrat called for bipartisan pushback, urging Congress to “come together to return the power to declare war back to the people.”
Schumer Responds After Trump Tightens Pressure on Venezuela
Schumer’s comments came shortly after Trump declared on Truth Social that Venezuela’s airspace should now be considered completely off-limits.
“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” Trump wrote.
His warning followed a Federal Aviation Administration alert a week earlier, citing a “worsening security situation” in the region.
Speaking to U.S. service members on Thanksgiving, Trump said the administration would “very soon” begin stopping suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers “by land.”
“In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many,” Trump said.
He added that traffickers kill “hundreds of thousands of people a year” in the United States through the “poisons” they bring in.
The president has not ruled out deploying U.S. troops.
When asked on Nov. 17 whether he would eliminate that possibility, Trump responded:
“No, I don’t rule out that, I don’t rule out anything.”
Pentagon Defends Deadly Counter-Narcotics Strikes
On Friday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth defended the administration’s targeted strikes on suspected narcotics vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
“As we’ve said from the beginning, and in every statement, these highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be ‘lethal, kinetic strikes,” Hegseth wrote on X.
“The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people.
“Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization.”
The statement pushed back on reports from CNN and The Washington Post claiming that the U.S. military ordered a second strike on a suspected drug boat on Sept. 2 after two survivors remained following the initial attack.
“As usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland,” Hegseth wrote.
Congress Signals Oversight of Operations
House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) issued a rare bipartisan statement Saturday, saying the committee is “committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean.”
“We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question,” the lawmakers wrote.
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