Trump blasts GOP war powers defectors, says they 'should never be elected to office again'
President Donald Trump unleashed his fury on a handful of Senate Republicans who rebelled against him on Thursday, demanding that they never be re-elected.
Five Senate Republicans broke ranks to support a bipartisan war powers resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., geared toward reining in Trump’s ability to pursue further military action in Venezuela.
It served as a rare rebuke from Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Todd Young, R-Ind., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., in a Republican-controlled Senate that has largely accepted and advanced many of Trump’s legislative desires.
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Trump was not happy about it.
"Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again," he continued. "This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President’s Authority as Commander in Chief."
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Collins, in particular, faces a tough re-election challenge in Maine, where Senate Democrats got their prized candidate, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, to jump into the race late last year.
The Republicans that voted for the resolution argued that while they supported Operation Absolute Resolve, the codename of the mission carried out to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, they wanted Congress to have a say should any further military action take place.
That decision came in part after lawmakers received briefings throughout the week from top administration officials to explain what the next steps in the country would be.
"With Maduro rightfully captured, the circumstances have now changed," Collins said in a statement ahead of the vote. "While I support the operation to seize Nicolás Maduro, which was extraordinary in its precision and complexity, I do not support committing additional U.S. forces or entering into any long-term military involvement in Venezuela or Greenland without specific congressional authorization."
Trump rejected Congress’ war powers authority, calling the War Powers Act "unconstitutional, totally violating Article II of the Constitution, as all Presidents, and their Departments of Justice, have determined before me."
"Nevertheless, a more important Senate Vote will be taking place next week on this very subject," he said.