Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins today supported a resolution that would limit President Donald Trump's power to carry out further attacks on Venezuela.
Collins was among five Republicans who joined Democrats to back the measure, a signal that some in the GOP are worried about the president's unilateral strikes against foreign countries.
It was also a contrast from Collins' position in November when she voted against a resolution that would have required congressional authorization to use military force in Venezuela. Democrats Gov. Janet Mills and Graham Platner, who are both trying to unseat Collins this year, have been sharply critical of the November vote.
Collins said the previous resolution was overly broad. She recently backed the U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
In a statement on Thursday, Collins reiterated her support for Maduro's apprehension but that she opposed committing additional U.S. forces or long-term military involvement in Venezuela — or Greenland — without congressional approval.
"The resolution I have supported today does not include any language related to the removal operation," she said. "Rather, it reaffirms Congress’s ability to authorize or limit any future sustained military activity in Venezuela, while preserving the President’s inherent Article II authority to defend the United States from an armed attack or imminent threat. I believe invoking the War Powers Act at this moment is necessary, given the President’s comments about the possibility of ‘boots on the ground’ and a sustained engagement ‘running’ Venezuela, with which I do not agree."
Trump lashed out at Collins and the four other Republican senators who voted for the resolution on social media, saying none of them should be elected to office again.
The resolution that advanced Thursday still needs additional votes. It has little chance of becoming law because Trump would need to sign it.
In a statement, Mills again criticized Collins, saying she missed the chance to stop Trump's actions in November, "but instead she refused, giving him the greenlight to unilaterally move us towards war in Venezuela."
She added, "My problem with Susan Collins is that she never does the right or hard thing the first time when it’s needed most — only when it serves her politically — and we always pay the price. Once again, she is a day late and a dollar short."
Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also supported the resolution, which he viewed as a step toward Congress reasserting its authority.
King said in an interview on Thursday that the Constitution is clear that only Congress can declare war. He also said Congress must authorize the type of military force that President Donald Trump has suggested he could deploy again in Venezuela.
"This is an important decision that the American people should be able to have some engagement with rather than it be the unilateral decision of one person," King said. "That's the essence of our constitution. So today's vote was a big deal."
King said he believes it has become abundantly clear since last weekend that Trump's primary interest in controlling Venezuela was oil, not restoring democracy to the country. King was skeptical, however, that the Trump administration would honor any war powers resolution that passed Congress on Venezuela.
"I don't think this administration cares what Congress does," he said. "And so far Congress has been pretty acquiescent. I think what happened today is a step in the direction of asserting its constitutional and legal authority. But whether this administration will pay any attention, I'd be surprised."
