Congress returned Monday after its holiday recess, responding to the Trump administration's actions in Venezuela.
Democrats have largely called out the Trump administration. While they do not necessarily support ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, they also do not view it as legal for the Trump administration to remove him to the U.S. — especially given the fact that the administration did not give Congress a heads up.
Some Republicans have defended the decision to capture Maduro, pointing to the effects it could have on the country.
"Some people say, 'oh, is this good for America?' Think about why it's going to be good for America," said Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL). "We're going to have a new trading partner. People we know, our friends and our family, are going to be able live their dream in Venezuela. We're going to have lower oil and gas prices. We're going to have a great trading partner. This is going to be outstanding."
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Still, some Republicans say they're concerned about President Trump's comments saying he wants to effectively run Venezuela for the time being.
And some Democrats have made sharp calls for more oversight following the operation.
"I have no love lost for Maduro. Good riddance to him, may he be brought to justice. But the way the president has gone about this has been very chaotic," said Rep. Madeleine Dean, (D-PA). "The administration does not have its story straight. As planned as this was, as much as the military planned for weeks, as [Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine] talked about, and exquisitely brought this about, but they didn't come to Congress."
Democrats, led by Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, are expected to take a vote at some point this week on limiting war powers for the Trump administration and curtail their ability to conduct a certain military operations without congressional authorization in Venezuela.
It seems unlikely that the vote will succeed. Many Republicans in Congress have made clear that they stand behind the Trump administration and their decision to apparently unilaterally going to Venezuela and extract Maduro.
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Lawmakers were expected to receive a closed-door briefing Monday to better understand exactly what the Trump administration was looking to do with its operations in Venezuela.
