Republican lawmakers are seriously divided over President Trump’s aggressive push against Venezuela, as per The Hill. And some senators are actively warning that escalating military pressure to oust President Nicolás Maduro could dangerously backfire on the United States.
While the majority of Senate Republicans are on board with President Trump’s strategy of targeting Venezuelan speedboats suspected of drug smuggling, several key figures are expressing concern that striking land targets or putting “boots on the ground” crosses a major red line. This is a big issue because the president himself threatened last month that U.S. strikes against Venezuela could begin “very soon.”
One Republican senator, who chose to remain anonymous to speak freely, was crystal clear about the risks. “I do not want to put ground troops in Venezuela. I don’t want to have another Afghanistan or Iraq,” the senator said, adding, “I’m not in favor of U.S.-directed regime change.”
This tension highlights a major conflict within the Republican Party
Conservatives who align with the America First movement have consistently warned against the United States getting tangled up in endless foreign wars, and yet President Trump’s actions in the Caribbean Sea are starting to look like an expansion of military operations, especially with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth refusing to release full military strike videos.
Sen. Rand Paul is one of the most outspoken critics of the administration’s strategy. He believes the administration is pursuing regime change in Venezuela and flatly declared, “I’m opposed to it.” Paul argued that the president is acting arbitrarily by blowing up Venezuelan boats while, earlier this month, pardoning the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández. Hernández was sentenced to 45 years for partnering with cocaine traffickers to move drugs into the US.
Paul thinks the administration is bypassing Congress’s constitutional authority to declare war by simply declaring “war against people we designate to be terrorists.” He noted, “Now they’re designating the government terrorists.” Because of these concerns, Paul has teamed up with Senate Democrats to file a war powers resolution. This measure aims to block U.S. armed forces from engaging in hostilities against Venezuela without receiving authorization from Congress.
Despite the growing opposition, some administration officials have tried to calm congressional fears. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio told senators in a briefing last week that regime change is not their goal in Venezuela. Rubio “said repeatedly that regime change is not the policy of the United States; it was not the focus of the anti-narcotrafficking policy,” according to one senator who attended the briefing.
However, those assurances were seriously undercut by comments made by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Wiles told journalist Chris Whipple in an interview that regime change is absolutely President Trump’s goal. “He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle,” Wiles said. She did suggest that if President Trump wanted to order land strikes, he would need Congress’s authority first.
Published: Dec 23, 2025 01:00 pm