Politics

(NEW YORK) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, announced Monday that he would drop his bid for reelection as governor, saying that he would not be able to give a campaign all of his attention as he works to defend Minnesota against allegations of fraud and right-wing attacks — including from President Donald Trump.

“In September, I announced that I would run for a historic third term as Minnesota’s Governor. And I have every confidence that, if I gave it my all, I would succeed in that effort,” Walz wrote in a statement Monday.

“But as I reflected on this moment with my family and my team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all. Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences.”

Walz, who served as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024, had come under fire in recent weeks amid allegations of fraud in child-care centers in Minnesota. Walz had said the state was investigating alleged fraud and slammed how rhetoric targeting the state’s Somali community about the allegations could put people at risk.

“I know this news may come as a surprise. But I’m passing on the race with zero sadness and zero regret. After all, I didn’t run for this job so I could have this job. I ran for this job so I could do this job. Minnesota faces an enormous challenge this year. And I refuse to spend even one minute of 2026 doing anything other than rising to meet the moment. Minnesota has to come first — always,” Walz wrote.

Walz was the subject of Trump’s frequent criticism — with the president claiming he was “a Crooked Governor” in a recent social media post.

Walz would have made history if he won the governorship in 2026, as previously no Minnesota governor has won a third consecutive four-year term.

His exit from the race currently leaves Democrats without a major candidate in the race, although other major names may be set to jump in soon.

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar met with Walz over the weekend about a possible bid for governor, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.

This comes as a source close to Klobuchar tells ABC News that she’s been getting a lot of outreach encouraging her to run. She is considering the bid, according to the source, but hasn’t made a final decision.

Representatives for Klobuchar, who won reelection to the Senate in 2024, did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

The Democratic Governors Association, the arm of the Democratic Party focused on electing Democratic governors, released a statement on Monday praising Walz for his work without endorsing any other potential candidates.

“No matter who decides to run or how much national Republicans want to spend, the DGA remains very confident Minnesotans will elect another strong Democratic governor this November,” DGA chair and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear wrote in a statement.

On the Republican side, longtime Trump loyalist and CEO of MyPillow Mike Lindell announced in December that he is running for governor of Minnesota. Lindell has already been endorsed by Trump.

Walz also has been viewed as a potential 2028 presidential hopeful, and visited a few key presidential battleground states in 2025, although he has previously downplayed the prospect of running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Walz, in his statement announcing he would not seek reelection, had harsh words for Trump and Republicans who have excoriated the state for alleged child-care fraud and said that it occurred on Walz’s watch.

“I won’t mince words here,” Walz wrote. “Donald Trump and his allies — in Washington, in St. Paul, and online — want to make our state a colder, meaner place.”

Saying that the state government had taken steps to investigate fraud, and continues to work on combating it, Walz said Minnesota “will win the fight against the fraudsters. But the political gamesmanship we’re seeing from Republicans is only making that fight harder to win.”

Republicans celebrated Walz’s announcement on Monday. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Republican representing Minnesota, wrote in a short statement reacting to Walz’s announcement, “Good riddance.”

“It’s been failure after failure for Tim Walz, so it’s no surprise he chickened out of running for re-election,” Republican National Committee Regional Communications Director Delanie Bomar wrote in a separate statement on Monday.

Minnesota has been under scrutiny in recent weeks over yearslong investigations and controversies about alleged fraud in child-care centers.

According to federal charges filed over the past couple of years, at least 70 people were part of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy that exploited two federally funded nutrition programs to fraudulently obtain more than $250 million in one of the largest COVID-era fraud schemes anywhere in the nation.

The defendants allegedly used a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization called Feeding Our Future to avoid tough scrutiny from the Minnesota Department of Education, which was supposed to be conducting oversight of the programs.

More scrutiny came recently after an unverified online video from conservative influencer Nick Shirley alleging fraud in child care in Somali communities in Minneapolis. Minnesota officials have disputed the allegations. During more recent site checks, officials said locations highlighted by the video were operating as expected.

Last week, an official with the Department of Health and Human Services said that the Trump administration is pausing child-care funding to all states after the Minnesota allegations emerged. The official said the funds will be released “only when states prove they are being spent legitimately.”

“Republicans are playing politics with the future of our state,” Walz said in his statement on Monday. “And it’s shameful.”

ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel, Isabella Murray, Laura Romero and Mike Levine contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a post on X, said the Pentagon will hold Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly accountable under the military code of justice for “conduct [that] was seditious in nature,” referring to a video Kelly participated in that told United States service members they have a right to refuse unlawful orders.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, announced Monday that he would drop his bid for reelection as governor of Minnesota, saying that he would not be able to give a campaign all of his attention as he works to defend Minnesota against allegations of fraud and right-wing scrutiny.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — In the wake of the dramatic capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, and the “large scale strike” by the U.S. on the country, questions abound about how the U.S. might run a country of 31 million people.

President Donald Trump stunned and alarmed many by announcing not only Maduro’s ouster, but saying that the U.S. would “run” the country temporarily, a statement that drew sharp criticism from some Democratic lawmakers and others about a new and complex foreign entanglement.

Retired Marine Corps colonel and former State Department official Steve Ganyard, an ABC News contributor, told “Good Morning America” that American involvement could go on for a “very long time.”

“The trick here will be to not disturb the underlying structure of Venezuelan society … to find somebody that will come in, provide just enough stability to lead to what hopefully will be free and fair elections,” Ganyard said.

Ganyard also said the U.S. military force that is in place is not equipped “to put boots on the ground,” if the interim government does not go along with American interests. “Those options at this point are very, very limited,” he said.

Trump expressed skepticism about not only Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, but also other leaders in the country, due to their connection to Maduro.

The Venezuelan Supreme Court on Saturday directed the country’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, to assume the presidency, citing the “exceptional situation created by the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro Moros.”

In an address on Saturday, Rodriguez called for Maduro’s “immediate release.”

“The people must go to the streets, the armed forces must deploy across the country, and all institutions must activate — to defend what we are, as sons and daughters of Simon Bolivar,” she said during the address, in Spanish.

The statements appeared to be at odds with the characterization of her position by President Trump, who indicated that in a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Rodriguez said “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”

“She had a long conversation with Marco, and she said, “We’ll do whatever you need.” She, I think she was quite gracious, but she really doesn’t have a choice. We’re going to have this done right,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday.

Rubio, for his part, reserved judgment about Rodriguez’s comments. “We’re going to make decisions based on their actions and their deeds in the days and weeks to come,” he said in an interview with The New York Times.

ABC News has reached out to the State Department for comment.

During an appearance Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Rubio said that the administration was not recognizing Rodríguez as the current legitimate leader in Venezuela.

“We don’t believe that this regime in place is legitimate via an election,” Rubio said.

The implications of Trump’s pronouncement that the U.S. was going to “run” Venezuela were not immediately clear.

The president suggested during his press conference Saturday that some of his Cabinet officials could undertake the task in coordination with a team of people in Venezuela. He also did not rule out “boots on the ground” from the American military.

“We can’t take a chance of letting somebody else run it and just take over what he left, left off, so we’re making that decision now,” Trump said. “We’ll be involved in it very much. And we want to do liberty for the people.”

Trump also said that the opposition leader, Machado, does not have the “respect” needed to run the country. Political analysts interviewed by ABC News rejected Trump’s assessment of Machado.

A U.S. official said the Trump administration would engage diplomatically with the remainder of the Venezuelan government, engage with oil executives to rebuild the infrastructure, that the American military would remain at the ready, that the oil embargo would remain in place and the administration would continue to dismantle cartels. Beyond that, the plan was not immediately clear.

On “This Week” Sunday, when pressed on whether the U.S. was in charge of Venezuela right now, Rubio said that what the U.S. was “running” was the “direction” of the situation.

“What we are running is the direction that this is going to move moving forward. And that is we have leverage,” Rubio added. 

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(NEW YORK) — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer addressed on Sunday the stunning U.S. strike on Venezuela, saying the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was unlawful.

“Maduro is a horrible, horrible person, but you don’t treat lawlessness with other lawlessness, and that’s what’s happened here,” Schumer told “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos. “There is no authority … they did not just do ships off the water. They went inside Venezuela, bombed civilian as well as military places, and it’s a violation of the law to do what they did without getting the authorization of Congress.”

Despite President Donald Trump’s claims on Saturday that the United States was “going to run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” the Democratic senator told Stephanopoulos that “nobody knows” who is actually running Venezuela right now.

“The American people this morning, George, are scratching their heads in wonderment and in fear of what the president has proposed,” Schumer said. “We have learned through the years when America tries to do regime change and nation building in this way, the American people pay the price in both blood and in dollars.”

Schumer expressed skepticism that U.S. oil companies could fix Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, a claim Trump made after the strike.

“It seems sort of a back-of-the envelope operation, at least by what they’ve told people,” Schumer said. “These oil fields have been in disrepair for years. We have no idea how long it’s going to take, how much it’s going to cost, and whether we need military troops guarding the oil fields while we do it.”

Schumer also criticized Trump’s involvement in Venezuela after his frequent campaign promise to avoid overseas conflicts.

“The American people are worried that this is creating an endless war. The very thing that Donald Trump campaigned against over and over and over again was no more endless wars. And right now, we’re headed right into one, with no barriers, with no discussion,” he argued.

Trump’s declaration follows the overnight mission in which a U.S. military extraction team, supported by over 150 military aircraft, made their way into Venezuela’s capital of Caracas and reached the compound where Maduro and his wife were staying. The team then brought the pair to the USS Iwo Jima warship before bringing them to New York City where Maduro is facing charges of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking.

Here are more highlights from Schumer’s interview.

The expired Obamacare insurance premiums

“We passed legislation to renew them for three years, and the Republicans blocked it in every single way. They’re a mess. They’re a mess. [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune has said he will not renew them. [House Speaker Mike] Johnson has said they will not … so it’s the Republicans [who] have screwed this up. If they can find a way out of the mess, we want to work with anybody to lower the prices.”

If there will be another government shutdown

“No. There are two separate tracks here. Democrats want to fund the appropriations, the spending bills all the way through 2026. We want to work with a bicameral, bipartisan way to do it. And the good news is our Republican appropriators are working with us, and we’re making good progress in that regard.”

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(NEW YORK) – At a Mar-a-Lago news conference Saturday morning, hours after he ordered a military strike in Venezuela and the capture of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, President Donald Trump started off calling it an anti-drug law enforcement operation.

His Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said “at its core, this was an arrest of two indicted fugitives of American justice.”

But Trump’s framing of the issue appeared to quickly expand when he stunned observers by saying the U.S. was going to “run the country” temporarily, even if that involved troops on the ground, that American companies would soon start selling the country’s vast oil reserves, and that it was part of an overall strategy of U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

While Trump said that the U.S. would “make Venezuela great again,” when asked repeatedly about the specifics of America’s role, including a possible timetable, Trump gave few specifics.

“We’re going to be running it with a group, and we’re going to make sure it’s run properly. We’re going to rebuild the oil infrastructure, which will cost billions of dollars. It will be paid for by the oil companies directly. They will be reimbursed for what they’re doing, but that’s going to be paid,” Trump said.

Later, a U.S. official told ABC News what it would look like for the U.S. to “run” Venezuela.

The official said top Trump officials will continue to diplomatically engage with those remaining in the Venezuelan government, that the administration will engage with oil executives to begin oil expansion in the country and that the U.S. military will remain postured and ready, and that the oil embargo would remain in effect.

American boots on the ground possible
The president brushed off questions about concerns about the length and logistics of the U.S. operation.

Trump was asked about whether U.S. troops would be on the ground in order to “run” Venezuela and indicated he could use the military to make sure it’s run “properly.”

“Well, you know, they always say, ‘boots on the ground, oh.’ So, we’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” he said. “We had boots on the ground last night at a very high level. Actually, we’re not afraid of it. We don’t mind saying it, but we’re going to make sure that that country is run properly.”

When pressed again later, Trump suggested that the only U.S. presence will pertain “to oil,” suggesting the presence will be American oil companies.

“We’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground, and that wealth is going to the people of Venezuela and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Venezuela, and it goes also to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused by that country,” he said.

The president also suggested that U.S. forces remain “ready” to carry out a “much bigger” second-wave attack on Venezuela.

Trump faced pushback from Democrats over his announcement.

“The idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans,” Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. “The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price.”

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who is leaving Congress Monday following a fallout with Trump, slammed the president over his actions.

“Americans disgust [sic] with our own government’s never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it and both parties, Republicans and Democrats, always keep the Washington military machine funded and going,” she said in a statement. “This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end.”

When pressed about how taking the action in Venezuela is “America First,” Trump said that it was for the U.S. to  surround itself with “good neighbors,” and “energy.”

Trump’s comments during the news conference were a far cry from his previous rhetoric in the weeks leading up to the strike in the Venezuelan capital, in which he condemned Maduro and his regime for allegedly contributing to drug trafficking, a charge Maduro has repeatedly denied..

Trump makes case using Monroe Doctrine
The president has reaffirmed and expanded his policy of a modern version of the Monroe Doctrine declared in 1823, the notion that views America as the dominant leader in the Western Hemisphere.

“All of these actions were in gross violation of the core principles of American foreign policy, dating back more than two centuries, and not anymore, all the way back. It dated to the Monroe Doctrine,” he said.

“And the Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superseded it by a lot, by a real lot. They now call it the ‘Donroe Doctrine,'” the president added, playing off his name.

Trump’s comments Saturday came after he released a message in December that he called the “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine, saying that “the American people — not foreign nations nor globalist institutions — will always control their own destiny in our hemisphere.”

Foreign leaders in Russia, Cuba and Russia denounced Saturday’s strike.

“Venezuela should be guaranteed the right to determine its own fate without any destructive, especially military intervention from outside. We reaffirm our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and support for the course of their Bolivarian leadership aimed at protecting the national interests and sovereignty of the country,” the Russian foreign ministry said in statement.

Trump does not back opposition leader
When asked about whether he’d support opposition head María Corina Machado to become the country’s new leader, Trump dismissed the possibility.

“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect,” Trump said.

Machado put out a statement Saturday praising Maduro’s removal.

“Today we are ready to take over power. We remain vigilant, active, and organized until a democratic transition is concrete. A transition that needs ALL of us,” she said. “To Venezuelans inside our country, be ready to mobilize what we will soon communicate to you through our official channels.”

Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, told reporters last month that she would return to the country “when we believe the security conditions are right, and it won’t depend on whether or not the regime leaves.”

After winning the prize, she posted a statement on X where she dedicated the prize to “to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!”

When asked how soon he wanted to see Venezuela hold elections, Trump indicated that he wants to see if it happens quickly, but noted that it “takes a period of time.”

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez demanded Maduro’s return in a speech on state TV. Trump had said “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”

“We had already warned that an aggression was underway under false excuses, under false pretexts, and that the masks had fallen and it had only one objective: regime change in Venezuela — and the capture of our energy, mineral, and natural resources,” Rodriguez said in Spanish.

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(NEW YORK) — Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided a very detailed account of how the U.S. military’s mission to apprehend Nicholas Maduro and his wife took place early Saturday morning.

Here are highlights:

The mission was called Operation “Absolute Resolve”

Caine said that more than 150 aircraft were involved, including fighter aircraft, bombers, surveillance aircraft, intelligence aircraft, and helicopters. He said the entire joint force was involved in the mission (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force, intelligence agencies).

The aircraft involved were:

— Fighters: F-35s, F/A-18s, E/A-18s, F-22s

— Bombers: B-1 bombers

— Unmanned aircraft and E-2 Hawkeyes

He said the aircraft took off from 20 different bases on land at at sea and that support aircraft were involved as well.

President Donald Trump gave the order to undertake the mission at 10:46 p.m., Caine said. He said the president’s message of “Good luck and Godspeed” was communicated to the entire force.

The extraction force that captured Maduro and his wife included law enforcement.

The helicopters carrying the force flew at an altitude of 100 feet above the water as they approached Venezuela.

As they came near, air defense systems were disabled to ensure the safe passage of the helicopters to Maduro’s compound.  

The helicopters arrived at the compound at 1:01 a.m. Eastern Time, 2:01 a.m. local time. 

Upon arrival, they came under fire and responded in self-defense with “overwhelming force,” Caine said.  

One of the helicopters was hit, but remained flyable.

Maduro and his wife were taken into custody by Justice Department officials “assisted by incredible U.S. military” forces with “no loss of life,” Caine said. He did not provide any details of any injured Americans.

When the helicopters left the compound, they were protected by fighter aircraft and drones that provided suppressive fire.

The extraction force was over water at 3:39 a.m. Eastern Time, Caine said.

Maduro and wife were then taken to the USS Iwo Jima.

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, in a call to state TV Saturday morning, said that “innocent people” had died, but gave no specifics, and didn’t address during a later speech.

Caine said the mission was “meticulously planned” and was “the culmination of months of planning and rehearsals.”

“We think we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again and again, not to get it right, but to ensure that we cannot get it wrong. Our jobs are to integrate combat power so when the order comes, we can deliver overwhelming force at the time and the place of our choosing against any foe anywhere in the world,” he said.

The military worked closely with the U.S. intelligence agencies: CIA, NGA, NSA. “We watched, we prepared, we remained patient and professional,” said Caine.

U.S. intelligence knew Maduro’s pattern of life — where he moved, lived, traveled, ate, and worked, he said.

The mission was ready in early December waiting for the right day to maximize the element of surprise, he said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Top congressional leaders — comprising the “Gang of 8” — did not receive a briefing from the administration before the U.S. strike in Venezuela began, multiple sources told ABC News Saturday morning.

Per one source, the Department of Defense notified congressional staff after the operation started.

Weeks ago, President Donald Trump indicated he wouldn’t  brief lawmakers in advance of any land operations in Venezuela because he was worried they would “leak.” 

Early congressional reaction largely split along party lines.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio worked the phones Saturday morning to shore up support among Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Notably, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee initially seemed critical of the action being taken without authorization by Congress.

“I look forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force,” Lee posted on X.

But later, Lee followed up his post saying he had spoken by phone with Rubio about and was now comfortable with the administration’s authority to take action.

“Just got off the phone with @SecRubio He informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant This action likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack Thank you, @SecRubio, for keeping me apprised,” Lee wrote.

He also said that Rubio told him he anticipates “no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, echoed Lee’s comments after saying he, too, had spoken with Rubio.

“Nicolas Maduro wasn’t just an illegitimate dictator; he also ran a vast drug-trafficking operation. That’s why he was indicted in U.S. court nearly six years ago for drug trafficking and narco-terrorism,” Cotton posted on X. “I just spoke to @SecRubio, who confirmed that Maduro is in U.S. custody and will face justice for his crimes against our citizens. I commend President Trump and our brave troops and law-enforcement officers for this incredible operation.”

Later, speaking to Fox News, Cotton said, “Congress doesn’t need to be notified ever time the executive branch is making an arrest. And that’s exactly what happened this morning in Venezuela, and now Maduro is going to come to the United States, and he’s going to face justice.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement he has spoken to Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in “the last several hours” — calling the military action in Venezuela “decisive” and a “justified operation that will protect American lives.”

Johnson said the Trump administration is working to schedule briefings next week when Congress returns to Washington after the holiday break.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said in a statement that he had spoken with Rubio as well and argued Trump’s actions were undertaken as part of “the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant.”

“President Trump’s decisive action to disrupt the unacceptable status quo and apprehend Maduro, through the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant, is an important first step to bring him to justice for the drug crimes for which he has been indicted in the United States,” Thune said.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, countered that Rubio had denied regime change was the administration’s goal.

“Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, but I have seen no evidence that his presidency poses a threat that would justify military action without Congressional authorization, nor have I heard a strategy for the day after and how we will prevent Venezuela from descending into chaos,” he said in a statement. “Secretary Rubio repeatedly denied to Congress that the Administration intended to force regime change in Venezuela. The Administration must immediately brief Congress on its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision.”

In a statement Saturday morning, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, one of the Senate’s most vocal advocates for congressional war authorizations, issued a scathing statement on Trump’s actions in Venezuela and called for Congress to take up his resolution that would block the use of the U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress.

“Where will this go next? Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal? To suppress Americans peacefully assembling to protest his policies?” Kaine said.

“Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal authorization from people’s elected legislature before putting servicemembers at risk,” he said.

Kaine, along with California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and co-sponsor GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, introduced a war powers resolution last month to block the use of the U.S. military to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela unless authorized by Congress.

That legislation is ready to be called up for a vote. The Senate returns to Washington next week on Monday, while the House returns on Tuesday.

Last month, Republicans defeated two Democratic war powers resolutions that attempted to reign in the president’s military actions in the Caribbean and East Pacific.

The first measure, H. Con. Res. 61, would direct the president to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities with any presidentially designated terrorist organization in the Western Hemisphere unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force for such purpose has been enacted.

That resolution was authored by the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks. A vote failed on Dec. 17 by a count of 210-216, with two Republicans voting in favor and two Democrats opposed to the measure.

“This action is also a violation of international law and further undermines America’s global standing,” Meeks, D-N.Y., stated Saturday following the operation. “Congress must reassert its constitutional role before this escalation leads to greater instability, chaos, and unnecessary risk to American lives.”

A separate war powers resolution, H. Con. Res. 64 — championed by Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern and written to address hostilities with Venezuela, narrowly failed by a vote of 211-213, with three Republicans voting in favor — at odds with the rest of the House Republican Conference. One moderate Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, voted to defeat the measure alongside Republicans.

On Saturday, McGovern argued the strikes are illegal.

“Without authorization from Congress, and with the vast majority of Americans opposed to military action, Trump just launched an unjustified, illegal strike on Venezuela,” he posted on X.

While congressional Republicans overwhelmingly expressed support for the Trump administration’s operation to capture Maduro, at least three House Republicans put out critical statements of the action.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky posted on X: “If this action were constitutionally sound, the Attorney General wouldn’t be tweeting that they’ve arrested the President of a sovereign country and his wife for possessing guns in violation of a 1934 U.S. firearm law.”

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska posted on X, in part, “My main concern is now Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan. Freedom and rule of law were defended last night, but dictators will try to exploit this to rationalize their selfish objectives.”

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia posted, in part, “If U.S. military action and regime change in Venezuela was really about saving American lives from deadly drugs then why hasn’t the Trump admin taken action against Mexican cartels?”

She added, “And if prosecuting narco terrorists is a high priority then why did President Trump pardon the former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez who was convicted and sentenced for 45 years for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into America? Ironically cocaine is the same drug that Venezuela primarily traffics into the U.S.

Greene continued, “Americans disgust with our own government’s never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it and both parties, Republicans and Democrats, always keep the Washington military machine funded and going. This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong.”

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(NEW YORK) — Amid the news that the U.S. carried out a “large scale strike” on Venezuela overnight Saturday and captured the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, Americans may be wondering why Trump, who promised voters no more wars, would launch a risky ground operation to capture a foreign leader.

So far, Trump and his top aides have offered shifting explanations since Trump’s military buildup in Latin America began earlier this year.

Initially, Trump defended his military operations near Venezuela as keeping drugs out of the US, although experts say the cocaine that passes through Venezuela winds up mostly in Europe while fentanyl is sourced from China.

Trump also accused Maduro of emptying Venezuela’s prisons and “mental institutions” into the U.S., although there’s no evidence of that either. According to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have settled in the U.S. in recent years due to economic and political instability in their home country.

By mid-December, Trump accused Maduro of “stealing” U.S. oil and land. Trump appeared to be alluding to work done in the 1970s in Venezuela by Western oil companies before the government there opted to nationalize its reserves, eventually forcing out American companies.

In a Dec. 17 social media post – around the same time sources say Trump was making a decision to greenlight the Jan. 3 military operation — Trump said the U.S. military threat to Venezuela will “only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”

Trump aide Stephen Miller made a similar claim.

“American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela. Its tyrannical expropriation was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property,” Miller wrote on X.

Two days later at a press conference, Secretary of State Marc Rubio offered a more general explanation than access to oil reserves, calling Maduro’s presidency “intolerable” because it was cooperating with “terrorist and criminal elements” instead of the Trump administration.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has staked much of his political career as opposed to the communist Cuban government. He has long blamed Maduro as a primary source of instability in the region, including in Cuba where the regime still relies on Venezuela’s cheap oil.

“There is a regional threat, and in the case of Venezuela we have no cooperation,” Rubio told reporters Dec. 19. “To begin with, it is an illegitimate regime. Second, it is a regime that does not cooperate. It is anti-American in all its statements and actions. And third, it is a regime that not only does not cooperate with us, but also openly cooperates with dangerous, terrorist and criminal elements.”

The Venezuelan government issued a statement condemning what it called “the grave military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America.”

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said overnight the United States is “locked and loaded” as he warned Iran not to kill peaceful protesters as nationwide unrest unfolds in Tehran.

In a post on his social media platform early Friday morning, Trump vowed that “if Iran [shoots] and violently kills peaceful protestors,” then the U.S. would step in and “rescue” them.

The president did not specify by what means such a “rescue” would occur, but he added that the U.S is “locked and loaded and ready to go.”

The post comes as several people were reportedly killed on Thursday amid protests in Iran.

Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, responded to Trump’s statement with a threat of his own.

“With the stances taken by Israeli officials and Trump, the behind-the-scenes of the matter has become clear. We consider the positions of the protesting merchants separate from those of the destructive elements, and Trump should know that American interference in this internal issue is equivalent to chaos across the entire region and the destruction of American interests. The American people should know that it was Trump who started the adventurism. They should look after their soldiers,” Larijani posted on X.

Thousands began protesting in Iran on Sunday over the country’s inflation and record-low currency value, but the unrest has expanded over discontent with the Iranian regime.

On Monday, Trump declined to answer whether he would support an overthrow of the Iranian regime, but commented on the country’s “problems” and recognized the public dissatisfaction.

“They’ve got a lot of problems they are in,” Trump said on Monday. “They have tremendous inflation. Their economy is bust, their economy is no good. And I know that people aren’t so happy.”

Trump on Monday also warned Iran not to rearm itself or rebuild its nuclear program.

“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them,” the president said as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti contributed to this report.

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