US lawmakers want war powers vote after Trump pledges Venezuela attack ‘soon’

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By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) – A group of Democratic and Republican U.S. senators filed a resolution on Wednesday that would block U.S. military action against Venezuela without congressional approval, after President Donald Trump said a land campaign would begin shortly.

U.S. troops have carried out at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since early September, killing at least 83 people as Trump escalates a military buildup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

Trump has been weighing options, including an attack on Venezuelan territory, for a campaign his administration calls an effort to stop the supply of illegal drugs that have killed Americans. Maduro has denied having any links to the illegal drug trade.

Trump has told reporters at the White House repeatedly in the past two days that a land attack would start “very soon.”

Responding to his comments, Democratic Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia, Chuck Schumer of New York and Adam Schiff of California and Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said they filed their war powers resolution.

The lawmakers, who have tried repeatedly to rein in Trump’s aggression against Venezuela, had said on Tuesday they would file a new resolution to force a congressional vote on the issue if the administration launched an attack.

But on Wednesday they said Trump’s comments had prompted them to go ahead. “We are being dragged into a war with Venezuela without legal basis or congressional authorization, and the Senate must be prepared to stop an illegal war that would needlessly place at risk thousands of American servicemembers,” Schiff said in a statement.

Under Senate rules, a war powers resolution is privileged, meaning it must be called up for a vote in a matter of days.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Steve Holland; editing by Lincoln Feast)