After infuriating President Trump last week, Senate Republicans successfully thwarted a final vote tonight on a war powers resolution seeking to restrict future military action in Venezuela.

• Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) flipped from supporting the war powers proposal to voting to block it from consideration.
• Vice President Vance cast the tie-breaking vote.

Why it matters: It's a big win for Trump and Senate GOP leaders, who mounted a last-minute pressure campaign to avoid another rebuke of the administration's actions in Venezuela.

Zoom in: Young was promised that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would appear before the Foreign Relations Committee in a public hearing after next week's recess and assured that the administration will come to Congress first if U.S. military forces are needed in Venezuela, he said.

• He cited his talks with Rubio as influential in his decision. "To have the secretary of state be at my disposal — really, I mean, countless phone conversations and text exchanges — was very reassuring to me," he told reporters.
• Republicans have argued the fast-track voting process does not apply because there are no U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela.
• Rubio emphasized in a letter sent this morning to Foreign Relations Committee Chair James Risch (R-Idaho) that no U.S. troops are in that country, Punchbowl News first reported.

The bottom line: Rubio's letter echoed arguments made by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and appeared successful in swaying Hawley and Young.

• Democrats used a similar tactic in 2024 to avoid a vote on Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) war powers resolution focused on the U.S.' humanitarian pier in Gaza.

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— Stef Kight

Articles of impeachment targeting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are garnering support from House Democrats at a rapid clip. Not all the party's lawmakers are happy about it.

Why it matters: This is by far the most credible impeachment effort of Trump's second term thus far, but some centrists continue to argue impeachment is a waste of the party's time and energy.

• "One of the things I dislike about D.C. a lot is the number of messaging items. ... People introduce bills that have no hope of any consequential change in people's lives," Rep. Adam Gray (D-Calif.) told us.
• Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) said it is "quite possible that impeachment could be a distraction."

State of play: Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) formally introduced three articles of impeachment against Noem today, which accuse the DHS secretary of obstructing Congress, constitutional violations and corruption.

• DHS has repeatedly dismissed the impeachment effort as "silly" and argued that Kelly, who is running in a contested Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, should focus on issues in her district.
• As of this morning, 70 House Democrats — about a third of the House Democratic caucus — had signed onto Kelly's articles.

Between the lines: Granted anonymity to offer candid thoughts on the matter, several centrist lawmakers went much further in criticizing the Noem impeachment push.

• One House Democrat told us: "There's a frustration with all these impeachments."
• "It's stupid," another told us, expressing shock that so many of their colleagues signed on and adding that "affordability is the issue."

What's next: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, asked today if he plans to take a position on impeaching Noem, told us: "Stay tuned."

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— Andrew Solender

House and Senate lawmakers are preparing to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado while she's in Washington for a sit-down with Trump.

Why it matters: The president is cool on Machado and her ability to lead Venezuela. But she has many supporters in Congress, including among Trump's political allies.

• "It's just a matter of convincing the president of her capabilities," said Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.), who plans to meet with her, though they have nothing on the books yet.
• Some Republican lawmakers are calling on the White House to move faster toward elections in Venezuela — at times breaking with Trump over their support for Machado.

Driving the news: Trump will host Machado at the White House tomorrow, their first meeting since the administration's ousting of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

• Potentially on offer: Her Nobel Peace Prize (The Norwegian Nobel Committee says it's not transferable).
• After her Trump audience, a group of senators is preparing to meet with her. The group, led by Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), is expected to include Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) on the Democratic side.
• Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) are expected to attend on the GOP side.
• Machado is scheduled to meet early next week with a bipartisan group of House members, coordinated through the Foreign Affairs Committee, according to multiple people familiar with the plans.

The bottom line: Some House members made it clear the burden is on Machado to make her case to lawmakers. She'll be under pressure to be impressive.

• Machado "should be pointed, well thought out and prepared," Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) told us today, describing what he wants to hear from her.
• "If somebody comes with less than a presentation of that, then that's troubling as well."

— Kate Santaliz, Hans Nichols and Stephen Neukam