Congressional Democrats based in Los Angeles County have blasted the U.S. military’s capture of the Venezuelan president, with lawmakers criticizing President Donald Trump for not informing Congress ahead of the raid Saturday.
Following months of deadly strikes by the United States against alleged drug boats from Venezuela, in addition to seizing an oil tanker and a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers, the U.S. military conducted a large-scale operation in Caracas overnight Friday into early Saturday.
Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro, who is facing a federal indictment for allegedly running a criminal organization that has brought drugs into the U.S., and his wife Cilia Flores were taken from their home and transported to New York to face charges.
“The self-proclaimed president of peace has once again resorted to war,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia and member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, said in a statement Saturday. “After months of conducting extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean, this rogue president has just escalated his illegal campaign by carrying out military strikes in Venezuela without any declaration of war or authorization of military force from Congress.
“President Trump has not offered the American people any clear strategic objective for a U.S. invasion of Venezuela except to take over its oil reserves,” Kamlager-Dove said. “Trump has repeatedly lied to Congress about his intentions — an evasion of accountability that has led the U.S. into prolonged military conflicts before. These military operations are a return to the same failed playbook of Cold War-era interventionism and regime change that decades later still hangs over — and will now re-poison — U.S. engagement in the region. And it emboldens autocrats around the world who can argue that invasions are an acceptable tool of foreign policy.
“The American people do not want to be dragged into another war. The Trump Administration must immediately come before Congress to face accountability for the lack of legal authority and articulate their plan — if any — for what comes next,” Kamlager-Dove added.
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, posted on X: “President Trump just bombed Venezuela and arrested its leader without any explanation to the American people and without authorization from Congress. Americans do not want another foreign regime change war launched in secret and without accountability. And Trump is setting an example to the world that it is acceptable for countries to unilaterally overthrow sovereign leaders.
“Congress must rein in this administration and stop it from dragging our country into another endless, unauthorized war,” Chu said.
California’s two Democratic senators also spoke against the raid and arrests.
“Let’s be absolutely clear: Trump’s military action in Venezuela is unlawful without approval from Congress. There’s no clear objective, no endgame, and no plan for what comes next. This is a dangerous recipe for chaos in the region,” Sen. Alex Padilla said in a statement.
“Nicolás Maduro was a thug and an illegitimate leader of Venezuela, terrorizing and oppressing its people for far too long and forcing many to leave the country. But starting a war to remove Maduro doesn’t just continue Donald Trump’s trampling of the Constitution, it further erodes America’s standing on the world stage and risks our adversaries mirroring this brazen illegal escalation,” Sen. Adam Schiff said in a statement.
“The president has lost his mind. There was no approval from Congress, let alone any notification,” said Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Covina. “(Nicolás) Maduro is an illegitimate leader, but what was the justification for kidnapping him and his wife? This shortsighted and reckless attack continues to feed the president’s goal of regime change and controlling Venezuelan oil, no matter the cost. This administration has continued to lie, bypass Congress and the American people, and act unilaterally without authorization. The administration must immediately brief Congress on the legal justification for the kidnapping as well as a plan to maintain regional stability.”
Longtime South LA Rep. Maxine Waters wondered, “What the hell is going on? Trump has supposedly abducted President Maduro and his wife and brought them to the United States for trial, supposedly for drug trafficking and bringing drugs to the United States,” the 17-term Democrat posted on X. “It was just a few weeks ago when Trump pardoned one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world, Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, who had been convicted by the Biden administration and was serving a sentence of 45 years in prison. What is this? Is this about regime change? Is this about oil? Or is this a power play to continue to send a message around the world that Trump is all-powerful and he is headed towards dictatorship in our country?”
Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-San Pedro, said Maduro is “a bully” who has “long stood against American principles,” but added “that does not give the president of the United States the right to storm into another country, without Congressional approval, and risk the lives of millions of Americans for his own greed and ambition. And make no mistake, this president pardoned his criminal crony, a convicted drug trafficker from Honduras just last month who helped supply cocaine to the United States — this is not about drugs.”
Rep. Jimmy Gomez, another LA-based Democrat, said, “This military action is illegal without congressional authorization. That is why I supported War Powers resolutions last month to prevent exactly this kind of unchecked use of force, resolutions that House Republicans blocked.”
Rep. George Whitesides, D-Santa Clarita, also took issue with the Trump administration for the unilateral move that left Congress in the dark.
“This morning, my thoughts are with the brave men and women of our armed forces, particularly those who were wounded in last night’s operation,” Whitesides said. “Fidelity to our Constitution is our most sacred national value. The administration’s actions last night in Venezuela were taken without consulting Congress.
“Let’s be clear: Maduro is a criminal who has destroyed his country. But we cannot claim to uphold the rule of law while bypassing it. Article I of the Constitution is clear: the power to declare war and make rules regarding captures belongs to Congress, not the president. The Founding Fathers explicitly designed our system to prevent one person from holding the sole power to initiate conflict.
“Despite my repeated requests for clarity during classified Armed Forces Committee hearings — and despite Secretary of State Rubio’s pledge to seek authorization — the administration has stonewalled Congress at every turn,” Whitesides continued. “This sets a dangerous precedent. If the United States asserts the right to unilaterally remove a foreign head of state on a domestic charge, we erode our moral standing to stop adversaries like Vladimir Putin from doing the same to leaders like Ukrainian president Zelensky, or China from detaining the president of Taiwan.
“Congress returns to D.C. this week, where I expect to receive more information about the administration’s decision to strike.”
Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Whittier, also released a statement.
“There is no question that Nicolás Maduro is a dictator who has brutalized his people and dismantled Venezuelan democracy. The Venezuelan people deserve freedom, self-determination and the rule of law — just as all people do. But the Constitution is clear: The power to authorize military actions belongs to Congress. No president has the authority to unilaterally launch military action simply because they believe it is justified. All members of Congress have a duty to call out President Trump’s blatant violation of our Constitution. I hope my Republican colleagues will do the same.
“Serious questions remain unanswered: How many American troops have been deployed to Venezuela and how long will they be there? What actions is the U.S. taking to prevent chaos and violence in the region? Will the president’s illegal military actions end with Venezuela or will our military be used to also go after legitimate, democratically elected leaders in Latin America, as he has threatened with Mexico’s President Sheinbaum,” Sanchez continued. “Was this military operation solely motivated to extract Venezuelan oil for American companies as the president repeatedly alluded to in his press conference? And what will prevent this from becoming another endless war that the American people do not want?”
Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, supported the raid and arrest of the Maduros.
“Maduro was a brutal dictator and indicted narco-terrorist responsible for flooding our country with deadly drugs and contributing to countless American deaths,” Kim said. “The Venezuelan people have suffered under his illegitimate rule for long enough. I’m glad he will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law and look forward to hearing more from the administration in the coming days and hours.”
Riverside County reps were split along party lines.
“Trump’s war against Venezuela is illegal and puts American service members in harm’s way. The constitution requires congressional approval for war and Trump did not seek it and does not have it,” Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Indio, said in a Facebook post.
“President Trump is once again acting like a king. He just overthrew the Venezuelan government, dragging us into yet another foreign intervention without Congress’s approval. Republicans need to grow a spine and join us in demanding oversight and checking this imperial president,” Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, said on Facebook.
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Palm Desert, expressed support for the military action.
“Nicolás Maduro is a narco-terrorist who is responsible for the deaths of many Americans,” Calvert said in a statement. “I applaud President Trump, our national security leaders, and our military personnel responsible for apprehending Maduro. He will now face justice for his deadly crimes.
“I spoke with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth earlier this morning and congratulated him for a successful mission. I was relieved to hear no service members were killed during the operation,” Calvert added. “Over the past year, the world has seen America will no longer tolerate anyone who harms our people, including drug trafficking. The Trump administration is correctly making the safety of America our highest priority.”
Darrell Issa, a longtime Republican congressman whose district includes parts of the Coachella Valley and the San Diego area, also showed support.
“Our elite military have again performed brilliantly with total effectiveness, and minimum loss of life. They are the best-trained, best- equipped, and bravest in the world,” Issa posted. “Once again, @realDonaldTrump has taken strong action to protect America’s homeland from neighboring threats of narcoterrorism and the scourge of deadly narcotics. The Trump Administration has my full support.”
Trump told reporters Saturday the United States would “be running” Venezuela indefinitely until a “judicious” transfer of power could take place. He said the United States would take control the Venezuela’s oil fields, increase production and allow U.S.-based companies to sell the petroleum to other nations, including China and Russia.
“We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years,” Trump said. “We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela, and that includes many that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country.”
Trump accused Maduro and his wife, a politician and former deputy in the country’s legislature, of a “campaign of deadly narco-terrorism against the United States and its citizens.”
According to Trump, previous U.S. strikes on drug boats had knocked out 97% of drugs coming into the United States by sea, “and those drugs mostly come from a place called Venezuela.”
The president also claimed that each alleged drug boat was responsible for “on average 25,000 deaths.”
The world’s largest confirmed oil reserves are in Venezuelan territory. The nation was among the largest oil producers but production has decreased drastically in the last 20 years.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the invasion Saturday, saying the move did not allow for congressional notification. He told reporters administration officials planned the invasion for days but delayed the launch until weather conditions were ideal.
Trump added that Congress was known to leak information, which could have put the mission’ success at risk.
In remarks Monday to the United Nations Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz accused Maduro of a wide range of crimes including allegations of human trafficking and supporting international terrorism.
“We believe a better future for the people of Venezuela and for the people of the region and the world is stabilizing the region and making the neighborhood that we live in a much better and safer place,” Waltz said. “And this is why millions of Venezuelans that have fled this brutal regime are celebrating and cheering around the world as this body pontificates.”
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the sole power to formally declare war. During the Vietnam War, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution. That legislation requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing military units into hostile situations, and troops must be removed within 60-90 days if Congress doesn’t authorize the action.
Through the years presidents have sought ways around the War Powers Resolution, and the debate over its effectiveness continues.
The Union del Barrio, the Community Self Defense Coalition and other local activist groups organized protests Saturday in Los Angeles to denounce the U.S. attack. CodePink and other organizations planned an “emergency” demonstration at Pershing Square.
