President Donald Trump attacked the five Republican senators who sided with Democrats on a largely symbolic vote to curb the president from using military force against Venezuela.
The Senate voted 52 to 47 to advance Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) resolution under the War Powers Act earlier Thursday, with Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine), Todd Young (Ind.), and Josh Hawley (Mo.) crossing party lines to serve the president a rare rebuke.
The measure would require congressional approval for any further attacks on the South American country, but has virtually no chance of becoming law because Trump would likely veto the legislation if it were to pass the Republican-controlled House.
In a Truth Social post shortly afterward, Trump said, “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.”
He named the five GOP lawmakers and said they should “never be elected to office again.”
Trump added that the vote “greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security.”
The backlash comes after the U.S. military seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro over the weekend. The Trump administration has ramped up the rhetoric over possible military action against other Latin American countries and Greenland.
Following the outburst, Hawley appeared relaxed at Trump lashing out at him.
“I like the president,” he told HuffPost. “I feel like we’ve had a good relationship, and I support him. I take no offense to that.”
Young declined to comment on the Trump post. “I know it would make for great fireworks if I did, but I have no concerns and no comments,” he said .
In a statement after the vote, Young had said he backed the plan to nab Maduro but opposed Trump’s order to deploy “boots on the ground” without congressional approval.
“Although I remain open to persuasion, any future commitment of U.S. forces in Venezuela must be subject to debate and authorization in Congress,” he said.
Of Trump’s attack, Collins said she thought it meant the president would prefer to have Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D), who is looking to oust the veteran GOP senator, “or somebody else who he’s not had a great relationship.”
