SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Local representatives in San Diego are reacting with conflicting opinions to the overnight attack on Venezuela and capture of president Maduro and the first lady.
“I was deeply alarmed to wake up to the news that the United States has invaded—and now taken over—Venezuela. Nicolás Maduro is an illegitimate dictator who has caused immense suffering for the Venezuelan people. But Venezuela does not pose a security cost to the United States that would justify this action. It seems to be a move on Venezuelan oil resources. We know from the pardon of former Honduran President Hernandez that bringing Maduro to justice on drug charges is a pretext. And while many Venezuelans and Americans hoped to see Maduro gone, we know that ‘running a country’ will have ongoing costs. We know that from the two decades and trillions of dollars we gave in the Middle East. President Trump has now pulled the U.S. into another conflict that polling shows Americans overwhelmingly oppose. And after decades of endless wars, we do not need another one. In San Diego, a proud military community, we know better than most the costs of military action for our service members and their families back home. That’s why we are particularly suspicious of impulsive military decisions with unclear objectives. We are grateful that no U.S. service members were killed and that the mission went as planned, but we are concerned about the undefined mission ahead. From the President’s press conference, it’s clear that there is no strategy for going forward. Capturing a leader is not a plan. Without a defined endgame, this action risks prolonged instability, unpredictable escalation, and U.S. casualties on the ground. Congress is vested by the Constitution with the power to declare war, but Congress was not notified of this action ahead of time. Ordering a major military operation without Congress is not only dangerous but unconstitutional. That’s why I voted for the War Powers Resolution to reaffirm that the president does not have the authority to take military action in Venezuela. It’s time for the Administration to brief Congress on this action and the strategy going forward. Donald Trump continues to make our country weaker by losing friends and gaining enemies around the world. We need to prevent this from becoming another ill-conceived nation-building debacle.”
- Rep. Scott Peters
“Nicolas Maduro was an illegitimate authoritarian ruler who dismantled Venezuela’s democratic institutions and presided over repression, corruption, and economic collapse. Millions of Venezuelans have paid the price, and their country is better off without him. But that reality does not relieve the Trump Administration of its constitutional obligations. I want to thank the men and women of our military and intelligence community for their professionalism and courage, and I am relieved that no American service members were killed. My gratitude, however, does not change that the President did not come to Congress to present a legal and strategic justification or seek the authorization the Constitution requires. That failure risks drawing the United States deeper into an unauthorized conflict, without the consent of the American people or their elected representatives. The President stated that the United States is now ‘running’ Venezuela. Under the Constitution and international law, administering or governing a foreign country constitutes an act of war and occupation, not a law-enforcement action. Such an undertaking requires explicit congressional authorization and clear legal authority. Neither has been provided. No indictment gives an American president unilateral power to assume control of another country. To date, the Administration has not articulated a lawful basis for large-scale U.S. military action in Venezuela. Article I of the Constitution assigns the authority to authorize war and sustained hostilities to Congress. Absent a sudden or imminent attack on the United States or U.S. forces, the President does not have that authority. These concerns are compounded by the fact that senior Administration officials, including Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth, briefed Members of Congress just weeks ago and did not request authorization for the use of force or disclose plans for regime change. Congress was sidelined from a decision of war and peace. The Administration has also attempted to characterize this operation as a law-enforcement or counternarcotics effort. That claim lacks credibility, particularly in light of the President’s recent pardon of a former Honduran president who was convicted in U.S. court of major drug trafficking offenses. Finally, the President’s public statements emphasizing Venezuela’s oil interests strip away any remaining pretense that this was a narrow enforcement action. Securing access to another country’s oil is not a lawful basis for the use of military force under the Constitution, nor is it recognized as a justification under international law. American history is clear that interventions undertaken without congressional authorization lead to instability and lasting damage to U.S. credibility. Bypassing Congress does not make America stronger. It makes our power less legitimate and our outcomes more dangerous.”
- Rep. Mike Levin
"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. President Trump 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."
- Rep. Darrell Issa
"Kidnapping President Maduro in a regime change operation won’t help protect the American people. It won’t actually mitigate drug trafficking in the United States: Venezuela plays virtually no role in producing or trafficking fentanyl. Instead, this military operation violates both domestic and international law, risks blowback and retaliation on U.S. service members and the American people, and entangles the United States in yet another costly and unnecessary war by the President who campaigned on ending them. President Trump has learned absolutely nothing from past foreign policy failures. In fact, he is now repeating the worst of them: championing the same neoconservative arguments that led to the invasion of Iraq and toppling of Gaddafi. History shows that military action seldom stops with removing a dictator; President Trump is already talking about ‘running the country,’ which means starting a doomed nation building project that will inevitably lead to boots on the ground and bleed taxpayer dollars. We cannot create stability for the American people at gunpoint. Instead, these actions just put American lives at risk, give our adversaries a powerful recruiting tool for generations, and cause ripple effects of instability."
- Rep. Sara Jacobs
