US Senate blocks bid to stop Trump’s strikes on alleged drug vessels in Caribbean

The War Powers Act resolution, unveiled by Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff, was blocked by a vote of 48-51.

While Democratic Sen. John Fetterman voted against it, Republican Senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski voted in favor. Sen. Ted Cruz did not vote.

The US has carried out at least four strikes in the Caribbean Sea against vessels allegedly carrying illegal drugs recently conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela.

Earlier Wednesday, Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said the latest vessel bombed by the US was Colombian.

The senators introduced the legislation to require a debate and vote on whether the US should be conducting the strikes without congressional approval.

The resolution reaffirmed that trafficking of illegal drugs does not itself constitute an armed attack or threat of an imminent armed attack that would justify military action and that the designation of an entity as a foreign terrorist organization does not provide any legal authority to the president to use military force.