Here is a partial checklist of U.S. elected officers opposing Trump’s invasion of Venezuela

President Trump’s transfer to depose Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has drawn reward inside america, particularly from Republican leaders. However the invasion additionally faces vital skepticism, questions on legality, and full-throated opposition from some elected officers throughout the political spectrum.

Here is a survey.

Some Republicans condemn, or query, Trump’s invasion

Whereas most conservative lawmakers voiced help for Trump’s motion, a small group of Republican Home members and GOP Senators described the transfer as illegal or misguided.

“If the President believes military action against Venezuela is needed, he should make the case and Congress should vote before American lives and treasure are spent on regime change in South America,” mentioned Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, talking on the Home flooring. “Do we truly believe that Nicolás Maduro will be replaced by a modern-day George Washington? How did that work out in Cuba, Libya, Iraq or Syria?”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posting on social media, voiced skepticism that the true aim of Trump’s invasion was to cease the move of medicine into america. She additionally described the navy motion as a violation of conservative “America First” ideas.

“Americans disgust with our own government’s never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it and both parties, Republicans and Democrats, always keep the Washington military machine funded and going,” Greene posted on X. “This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong.”

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a retired U.S. Air Pressure Brigadier Normal, usually praised the navy operation, however he additionally mentioned the precedent of U.S. navy intervention may embolden extra aggressive motion by authoritarian regimes in China and Russia.

“Freedom and rule of law were defended last night,” Bacon mentioned on X, referring to the invasion of Venezuela, “but dictators will try to exploit this to rationalize their selfish objectives.”

A minimum of three Republican Senators additionally voiced concern or skepticism in regards to the invasion and its authorized justification, whereas additionally celebrating the autumn of Maduro.

“In this case, a leader who monopolized central power is removed in an action that monopolizes central power,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul wrote on the platform X. “Best though, not to forget, that our founders limited the executive’s power to go to war without Congressional authorization for a reason—to limit the horror of war and limit war to acts of defense.”

GOP Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, each of Alaska, mentioned Maduro’s ouster would make america and the world safer, however instructed the operation may flip right into a quagmire for U.S. troops.

“Late last year, I voted to proceed to debate on two resolutions that would have terminated the escalation of U.S. military operations against Venezuela absent explicit authorization from Congress,” Murkowski wrote on the platform X. She added that she expects additional briefings from Trump officers on the “legal basis for these operations.”

“The lessons learned from what took place after the United States deposed another Latin American indicted drug lord—Panama’s Manuel Noriega in 1989—could prove useful, as could the painful and difficult lessons learned after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003,” Sullivan wrote on X.

Most Democrats condemn the invasion

Most Democratic lawmakers and elected officers additionally described Maduro as a dictator, however they often condemned Trump’s motion. At a press convention Saturday, New York Metropolis’s new Mayor Zohran Mamdani advised reporters he phoned Trump and voiced opposition to the invasion.

“I called the President and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act and to make clear that it was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal and international law,” Mamdani mentioned.

Democratic minority chief Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York accused Trump of performing in dangerous religion and violating the U.S. Structure. “The idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans,” Schumer mentioned in a publish on X. “The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price.”

In keeping with Schumer, the Trump administration assured him “three separate times that it was not pursuing regime change or or military action without congressional authorization.”

California’s Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, a frequent Trump critic, posted a collection of feedback on X describing Saturday’s navy motion and Trump’s proposed U.S. occupation of Venezuela as doubtlessly disastrous.

“Acting without Congressional approval or the buy-in of the public, Trump risks plunging a hemisphere into chaos and has broken his promise to end wars instead of starting them,” Schiff wrote.

“Donald Trump has once again shown his contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law,” mentioned Vermont’s Unbiased Sen. Bernie Sanders, in a video posted on social media, the place he described the U.S. invasion as “imperialism.”

“This is the horrific logic of force that Putin used to justify his brutal attack on Ukraine,” Sanders mentioned.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, additionally spoke harshly of the navy strike, describing it as an effort by Trump to distract consideration from home troubles in america.

“It’s not about drugs. If it was, Trump wouldn’t have pardoned one of the largest narco traffickers in the world last month,” Ocasio-Cortez mentioned, referring to Trump’s choice to free former Honduran President Orlando Hernandez, who had been convicted within the U.S. of serving to smuggle greater than 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S.

“It’s about oil and regime change. And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs,” Ocasio-Cortez added on X.