House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is strongly pushing back against the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, claiming there’s zero evidence to justify what he called a shocking “act of war,” as per The Hill. The New York Democrat expressed deep concern that the administration acted without providing any proof to Congress or the American people that the operation was necessary.
Jeffries stated flat out that the administration hasn’t presented any evidence “to justify the actions that were taken in terms of there being an imminent threat to the health, the safety, the well-being, the national security of the American people.”
President Trump, however, has a very different take, justifying the extraordinary capture by arguing that Maduro was actively threatening regional security and U.S. interests. The president told reporters that the action was absolutely necessary to stop the flow of sanctioned oil from Venezuela, curb the influx of drugs and gangs into the U.S., and counteract Maduro’s alliances with major rivals like China, Russia, and Iran.
This puts the White House and Congressional Democrats on a direct collision course
The operation resulted in Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, being taken into custody and transported to a federal detention center located in Brooklyn, N.Y. It’s certainly not a common occurrence for a sitting head of state to end up detained in the United States, which is why the fallout is so intense.
Beyond the immediate capture, President Trump outlined an aggressive plan for the future of the South American nation. The president stated that the U.S. will “run [Venezuela] until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” It sounds like a total takeover, and he specifically mentioned that American oil companies would be brought in to “fix” the country’s petroleum infrastructure. This is a huge deal, considering Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the entire world.
Jeffries immediately expressed major skepticism about how effective this strategy will be, noting that it “remains to be seen whether the people of Venezuela are going to be better off” under this new American oversight. He didn’t stop there, using the opportunity to criticize the president’s track record at home. “He’s done a terrible job running the United States of America,” Jeffries claimed, adding, “Life hasn’t gotten better for the American people over the last year; life has gotten worse.”
The capture operation has completely fractured Capitol Hill. GOP lawmakers have widely praised the move, seeing it as a necessary step to protect U.S. interests. Democrats, conversely, were furious that Congress wasn’t consulted before the mission was carried out. You just can’t launch an operation this significant without talking to the legislative branch first, in my opinion.
President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio quickly defended the decision not to brief Congress beforehand. They argued that sharing details of the mission with lawmakers would have jeopardized the entire operation, which is a common defense in high-stakes security matters.
However, Jeffries remains insistent that Congress must assert its power immediately. He stated that once the House returns to session next week, lawmakers must take action “to ensure that no further military steps occur absent explicit congressional approval” with regard to Venezuela. It sounds like the battle over who gets to dictate foreign military policy is only just beginning.
Published: Jan 5, 2026 10:30 am