Greenland war powers vote could be heading to Senate floor

Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego wants Congress to forestall a U.S. takeover of Greenland, requiring President Donald Trump to get lawmakers’ approval for any such action after this weekend’s military incursion into Venezuela.

Gallego said he will introduce a war powers resolution focused on Greenland, an semiautonomous territory of Denmark that Trump has repeatedly suggested should be part of the U.S. instead.

“We must stop him before he invades another country on a whim,” Gallego wrote on social media. “No more forever wars.”

War powers resolutions are privileged under Senate rules, meaning Gallego and others can force the chamber to weigh in on the issue. Democrats have previously forced votes to rein in Trump’s strikes against suspected drug smuggling boats and on attacking Venezuela, though both efforts failed.

Greenland could be different, however, given that it is territory belonging to a NATO ally. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is downplaying the chances of military action in Greenland, and other Republicans have ridiculed the idea of a hostile takeover.

"That to me is not something anybody is contemplating seriously,” Thune said Tuesday.

But Democrats are eager to put them on the record, with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) hinting at many more attempts to rein in Trump.

“He has repeatedly raised Greenland, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia. He's waged military action within Nigeria,” Kaine said. “So I think members of the Senate should go on the record about all of it.”

The Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a bipartisan resolution to require congressional approval before Trump takes additional military action in Venezuela. But a similar push previously failed and Thune on Tuesday said he was “optimistic” it would fail again.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who opposed a previous Venezuela-focused measure, said she remained undecided but wanted the administration to further explain its strategy.

“I don't understand what the president means when he says we will 'run' Venezuela,” she said. “The Venezuelans ought to run for Venezuela.”