House GOP staves off rebuke to Trump over Venezuela military action
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President Trump departs from the White House on Jan. 20. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
The House on Thursday rejected a bid to block President Trump from taking further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval.
Why it matters: The vote shows GOP lawmakers' continued allegiance to Trump. It comes a week after the White House successfully thwarted a similar resolution in the Senate.
- Just two GOP lawmakers — Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Don Bacon (Neb.) — ultimately voted in favor of the resolution, led by Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.).
- The vote was 215-215, failing on a tie.
- It comes just a week after the White House successfully thwarted a similar resolution in the Senate, peeling off enough GOP support to block its advancement.
Catch up quick: Two previous House efforts to limit Trump's authority to strike Venezuela and suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean also failed — before the U.S. captured the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
- In December, three Republicans — Massie, Bacon and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — voted in favor of one of the measures.
The intrigue: House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) continued success this time around hinged on his ability to lure absent members back to Washington.
- Reps. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) returned to Capitol Hill at leadership's urging after missing earlier votes, knowing their support was critical.
- Johnson held the vote open for about 30 minutes as members waited for Hunt to arrive from the Dulles airport to cast the deciding vote.
- As the resolution sat at 215 yeas to 214 noes, House Democrats shouted at Johnson to "close the vote!" with Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) making a direct plea to the speaker, saying "This is serious shit. Close the vote!"
Hunt, a Senate candidate, has missed most of the House floor votes this year — a recurring headache for Johnson, who is governing with razor-thin margins.
Flashback: Trump laid into the five Senate Republicans who initially backed the measure in the Senate, posting on Truth Social shortly after the vote that "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."
- Two Senate Republicans — Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) — flipped their votes and sank the resolution in the chamber.
What they're saying: When asked ahead of the vote how many GOP colleagues he expected to join him, Massie told Axios: "People are afraid of the president. Republicans are afraid of the president."
