Senate GOP succeeds in last-minute move to block Venezuela vote

Senate Republicans successfully thwarted a final vote Wednesday on a war powers resolution seeking to restrict future military action in Venezuela.Why it matters: It's a big win for President Trump and Senate GOP leaders, who mounted a last-minute pressure campaign to avoid another rebuke of the administration's actions in Venezuela.The procedural vote passed 51-50, with Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) voting against it with Democrats. Vice President Vance cast the tie-breaking vote. Zoom in: It came down to Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) who ultimately decided to support the procedural move to block the vote— despite voting in favor of the resolution last week.Young was promised that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would appear before the Foreign Relations Committee in a public hearing after next week's recess and assured that the administration will come to Congress first if U.S. military forces are needed in Venezuela, he said.He cited his talks with Rubio as influential in his decision. "To have the secretary of state be at my disposal — really, I mean, countless phone conversations and text exchanges — was very reassuring to me," he told reporters.Republicans have argued the fast-track voting process — which would have likely triggered a final vote Wednesday — does not apply because there are no U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela.Catch up quick: Rubio emphasized that there are no troops on the ground in a letter sent to Foreign Relations Chair James Risch (R-Idaho) on Wednesday morning, Punchbowl News first reported.It echoed arguments made by Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and appeared successful in swaying Hawley and Young who had also been hearing from Trump, Senate leadership and top administration officials on the issue.Democrats used a similar tactic in 2024 to avoid a vote on Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Tex.) war powers resolution focused on the U.S.'s humanitarian pier in Gaza.