Senate weighs war powers

Dissent grows within GOP as Trump and Miller escalate rhetoric on seizing Greenland by force

- BY ANA CEBALLOS

ANDREW HARNIK Getty Images

THE SENATE'S procedural vote of 52 -47 sets the stage for a full vote next week.

Five Senate Republicans broke with party leaders on Thursday to advance legislation that would rein in President Trump's use of the U.S. military in Venezuela, a move that comes as a growing number of GOP lawmakers have expressed unease about the White House's threats to use force to acquire Greenland.

The procedural vote, which came over the objections of Republican leaders, sets the stage for a full Senate vote next week on a measure that would block Trump from using military force "within or against Venezuela" without approval from Congress.

Even with the Senate's approval, the legislation is unlikely to become law as it is unlikely to pass the House, and President Trump — who has veto power over legislation—has publicly condemned the measure and the Republicans who supported it.

"This vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President's Authority as Commander in Chief," Trump wrote in a social media post shortly after the 52-47 vote in the Senate.

The Republican defection on the issue underscores the growing concern among GOP lawmakers over the Trump administration's foreign policy ambitions and highlights the bipartisan concern that the president is testing the limits of executive war powers — not only in Venezuela but also in Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, a U.S. ally.