Secretary Rubio scheduled to face former colleagues on Venezuela policy
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to publicly testify on the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela in the Senate next week.
Returning to his old stomping grounds in the Senate has become fairly routine for Rubio over the last few months, particularly as lawmakers have demanded more transparency over the administration’s actions in Venezuela and the Caribbean.
KAINE VOWS NEW WAR POWERS FIGHTS AFTER SENATE BLOCKS TRUMP VENEZUELA CHECK
The hearing before the panel comes after Rubio acted as a key figure to convince a pair of holdouts — Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo. — to flip their votes and kill an attempt by Senate Democrats to rein in President Donald Trump’s war authorities last week.
Their primary concerns were that the administration would put boots on the ground in the region, and that Congress should have a say if that were the case.
GOP EYES VENEZUELA’S UNTAPPED OIL WEALTH AS DEMOCRATS SOUND ALARM OVER TAXPAYER RISK
Through assurances, guarantees and an agreement to publicly testify on the matter, Rubio appeared to win them over.
Young said at the time that he had to “accept that this was a communications exercise,” but noted that it was a moment used to “shine a bright light on Congress’ shortcomings as it relates to war powers in recent history.”
Rubio also wrote to Senate Foreign Relations Chair James Risch, R-Idaho, ahead of the vote last week to spell out that the administration would clue in Congress should any future military action take place in the region.
KEY REPUBLICANS FLIP, KILL EFFORT TO RESTRAIN TRUMP’S POLICING POWER OVER VENEZUELA
He then re-upped that same message to Young, where he said that should Trump “determine that he intends to introduce U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities in major military operations in Venezuela, he would seek congressional authorization in advance (circumstances permitting).”
Still, despite these guarantees to Republicans, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who sits on the committee, plans to continue his quest to corral Trump’s war authorities.
Kaine said before lawmakers left Washington that he planned to “file every one I can to challenge emergencies, to challenge unlawful wars, to seek human rights reports, arms transfers if they’re wrong.”
