Our Republican Legacy Statement on U.S. Actions in Venezuela

Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro was an illegitimate authoritarian dictator who suppressed freedom and human rights. His removal gives the people of Venezuela a new opportunity to rebuild their democracy. Unfortunately, how President Trump achieved this result creates new anxiety about the state of our democracy.

The President did not seek congressional authorization for this use of force or even consult with Congress before acting. Despite facing no imminent threat to our security or our citizens, he directed American armed forces to invade a sovereign nation and apprehend its de facto leader entirely on his own authority. Now he says his administration “will run” Venezuela and take control of its vast oil resources with the help of U.S. companies. None of this is consistent with the Constitution, the law, or American history. Still, alarmingly, it is consistent with the President’s continued and growing disrespect for our nation’s constitutional order and the proper role of each of our branches of government.

President Donald Trump’s numerous declarations of national emergencies when there are none, his assaults on Constitutional rights and civil liberties, his disrespect for due process under the law, his decimation of experienced national security and military leadership with whom he disagrees, and his personal vendettas of retribution and revengeagainst his political opponents through the Department of Justice or other dubiously legal administrative actions reflect his self-centered approach to governing where he truly believes that he can do whatever he wants, regardless of the constitutional or legal constraints on his presidential role.

We call on Republicans in Congress to demand immediate public oversight of U.S. actions in Venezuela. More broadly, we call on Republicans to work with Democrats in Congress to exercise the legislative branch’s proper role in regard to holding the President accountable to the rule of law.

The President is not an elected monarch. It is time for Congress, especially patriotic members of the President’s own party, to stand up and fulfill their critical Article 1 powers under the Constitution.