The Democrat representing the 2nd Congressional District of Massachusetts is furious with his colleagues after they narrowly rejected his War Powers Resolution that would have directed President Trump to cease all hostilities within or against Venezuela.
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern filed his resolution in response to Trump’s threats to use military force — including airstrikes, American troops on the ground, and naval or air blockades — against the nation led by authoritarian Nicolás Maduro.
“There’s a lot of warmongers in this Congress, sadly. There’s lot of people who haven’t learned lessons from the past,” he said in an interview Thursday, referring to conflicts like the Iraq War.
Most Congressional Republicans voted against the resolution, which failed by two votes —211-213. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who was set to go to trial in April on money laundering, conspiracy, and bribery charges before being unconditionally pardoned by Trump earlier this month, was the only Democrat to vote against it. Republicans Thomas Massie, Don Bacon and Marjorie Taylor Greene broke with their party to vote in favor. Nine representatives did not vote.
The U.S. Constitution stipulates that only Congress can declare war.
McGovern said he is considering filing another resolution after the holiday break, which started on Thursday night.
On Tuesday, Trump ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela to target the South American country’s main income source. The U.S. military has conducted at least 26 strikes, which have resulted in the deaths of approximately 100 people, on boats allegedly trafficking narcotics, though critics say there is little to no evidence to support the drug trafficking claims.
McGovern said most fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, comes from Mexico and China.
“It’s not about human rights, because the Trump administration doesn’t care about human rights. At the end of the day, it’s probably about oil, and it’s probably about Donald Trump thinking he can make some money here.”
McGovern also, however, criticized Maduro, who he called a thug and a tyrant.
He also slammed Republicans for essentially surrendering more power to the White House while doing nothing to prevent Affordable Care Act tax credits from lapsing at the end of the year.
“Republicans are saying we can’t afford it. But you can afford another war, in Venezuela?” McGovern said. “I’ve seen this movie before. There’s a shortage of courage in the United States House of Representatives.”
The resolution can be found at: shorturl.at/4RgTu.