JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Five Senate Republicans joined with Democrats to advance a resolution to stop President Trump from ordering new unilateral military action against Venezuela. Here is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer following that vote.
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CHUCK SCHUMER: It's a clear rejection of the idea that one person can unilaterally send American sons and daughters into harm's way without Congress, without debate.
SUMMERS: It marks the largest Republican rebuke of Trump's policy on Venezuela after last weekend's military raid that ousted president Nicolás Maduro. Joining us now is NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales. Hi.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So, Claudia, the same bipartisan group - which was largely led by Democrats - it's forced several votes to limit Trump's war powers, but there have been mixed results. So tell us what's different.
GRISALES: Well, quite a bit. As we know, President Trump demands fierce loyalty from this Republican-led Congress, and his party has largely stayed in line. But seeing five Senate Republicans break ranks today signals Congress may not have the same appetite as the White House for expansion of military action against Venezuela. Tim Kaine, the Virginia Senate Democrat who co-led this effort, said members learned through Trump-led classified briefings this week that a lot of information about this operation has been withheld from the public.
TIM KAINE: We know a lot that we can't describe. Once folks start to get deeper and deeper into this, I think they're not going to like it.
GRISALES: And he says that's partly a reason why more Republicans are shifting to support this. And Democrats and even some Republicans argue there's still a lot of questions about the next steps, such as the potential for the U.S.-Venezuela conflict to continue for the next year or more, the cost to the American public, expansion of this conflict to other countries and more.
SUMMERS: The success of this vote apparently came as quite a surprise to other Republicans who voted against the measure. Have we heard from the Republicans who broke ranks?
GRISALES: Yeah. Many have pointed to the same concerns about whether this could lead to another endless war. Kentucky GOP Senator Rand Paul has co-led several of these efforts with Kaine. I asked him, what is his biggest concern at this stage?
RAND PAUL: I want to make sure that the war doesn't spread throughout South America or throughout the Caribbean and that there's diplomatic alternatives.
GRISALES: Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana joined Paul and Democrats to vote yes, some for the first time - and that includes Young. He was a no on three war powers-related votes last year, but a yes today. And he said, while he applauded bringing Maduro to justice, he believes the vast majority of his state is not prepared to commit troops to Venezuela.
SUMMERS: Claudia, have we heard any of the response from President Trump at this point?
GRISALES: Yeah. Quickly after the vote, he lashed out at those five Senate Republicans on his social media site. He said the parties should, quote, "be ashamed" of these GOP members, and they should never be elected to office again. And he argued, despite their, quote, "stupidity," that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional. But of course, we know that's not clear in this case. It's also worth noting here that some of these lawmakers, like Senator Collins, are in a tight election race come this November.
SUMMERS: That's right. Claudia, last thing - what's next?
GRISALES: Well, this sets up a series of votes next week in the Senate. The first is a procedural vote, and if that passes, it would lead to hours of debate, potentially more votes before a bid for final passage. But as we saw in that post by the president, he seemed to warn Republicans who sided with Democrats to reconsider their position. So they're going to have a lot of weight on their shoulders if they break ranks again.
SUMMERS: NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales, thank you.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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