The U.S. Senate advanced a resolution on Thursday that would bar President Donald Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional authorization, paving the way for further consideration in the 100-member chamber.
The vote on a procedural measure to advance the war powers resolution was 52 to 47, as a handful of Trump’s fellow Republicans voted with every Democrat in favor of moving ahead.
The vote came days after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a dramatic military raid in Caracas. Two previous attempts to advance similar resolutions were blocked in the Senate last year by Trump’s fellow Republicans, as the administration ramped up military pressure on Venezuela with attacks on boats in the southern Caribbean starting in September.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Don Durfee, Diane Craft, Rod Nickel and Chizu Nomiyama )