James McGovern

U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern planned to introduce legislation Tuesday, Jan. 6, seeking to restrict President Donald Trump from taking further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval.

“I think this war – and the president has used the word 'war' – is illegal and unjustified,” McGovern, speaking publicly about his plans for the first time, told the Telegram & Gazette Jan. 5.

McGovern, the ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee, said he aims to reintroduce a resolution similar to one his colleagues in the House shot down by two votes Dec. 17 instructing Trump to “remove the use of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela" unless granted approval from Congress.

The previous resolution was introduced by McGovern along with Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has criticized Trump; and Democrat Joaquin Castro of Texas. McGovern said he anticipated Massie and Castro will introduce the renewed resolution as well.

Massie and two other Republicans, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Don Bacon of Nebraska, joined all but one Democrat in supporting the Dec. 17 resolution, which failed 211-213.

McGovern said he introduced the Dec. 17 resolution because he was fearful that boat strikes and buildup of military forces in the region were ramping up to something greater, but at the time, some of his Republican colleagues labeled it premature.

He said that, given this weekend’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, it is important that Congress not abrogate its power to declare war under the Constitution.

“Congress ought to be on record saying they approve this or they don’t,” he said, noting that Congress wasn’t informed of, or asked permission for, the strikes beforehand.

“Trump keeps on pushing the limits. He keeps overreaching – taking actions that are blatantly illegal,” McGovern said. “And we have a Republican leadership in Congress that just rolls over."

McGovern said that while Maduro is a “thug” and “awful human being,” his forceful removal sends the wrong message to Russia and China.

“If you’re China, you’re probably thinking to yourself, ‘I can do the same thing to Taiwan,'’’ he said, adding that Russia could claim justification to escalate its war in Ukraine.

“This is a throwback to the Cold War,” he said. “This is a throwback to the days of imperialism.”

McGovern, as he did in a statement this weekend, ascribed Trump’s motives as revolving around oil – akin to, he said, U.S. motivations for invading Iraq in 2003.

The longtime congressman from Worcester, who voted against the war in Iraq, said he did not want to put American troops in harm’s way over oil.

“We’re sleepwalking into another Iraq,” he said, adding that, back then, the administration of President George W. Bush pitched the invasion as a much easier operation than the quagmire it became.

McGovern – noting Trump’s recent pardon of Honduras's ex-president on drug trafficking charges, as well as his blessing of Maduro’s second-in-command to lead the country – said he did not believe the operation was driven by the ideal of democracy or to stop drugs from entering the United States.

“This is about Trump paying back Big Oil campaign donors,” he alleged.

Trump has said that the United States will be seeking, with help of oil companies, to rebuild Venezuela’s oil sector, which, 50 years after being put under national control, is struggling mightily despite sitting on the largest reserves of any country.

CNN quoted a White House spokesman as saying that “all of our oil companies are ready and willing” to invest to rebuild infrastructure, and that they will “do an incredible job” for Venezuela.

McGovern said he’s seen no solid plans for how such a rebuild would work, and questioned whether Venezuelans would reap the benefits should success follow.

McGovern said it doesn’t appear Trump has a cohesive plan for what he’s doing.

“This is a president whose ego is out of control,” he said, sounding alarm about recent comments Trump made that appear to threaten Colombia and Cuba.

McGovern said that while he doesn’t know how his resolution will fare – any such resolution would ultimately need to be approved by the Senate and signed by Trump – it’s an important message for Congress to send.

“I think it’s important that we not allow [Trump] to destroy all the checks and balances that are in place when it comes to war in our government,” he said. “I also think it’s important we uphold the Constitution.”

The T&G has reached out to the White House for comment.

Trump, appearing on Fox News this weekend, was asked by an anchor to comment specifically on McGovern’s criticism of the strike as unjustified and illegal.

“These are weak, stupid people, and they’re trying to save themselves from almost destroying our country,” Trump replied. “If I didn’t get elected…I don’t even think we would have a country right now.”

The White House posted on its website Jan. 5 that Trump “has scored another remarkable foreign policy triumph: the bold capture and extradition of Nicolas Maduro, the indicted narcoterrorist and socialist dictator who plunged Venezuela into chaos, starved its people, and menaced American security, now detained on U.S. soil to face long-overdue justice.

“Democrats spent years howling that Maduro was a ruthless tyrant who had to be delegitimized, pressured, and removed,” it wrote. “But the instant President Trump succeeds where they failed, they erupt in furious hypocrisy – prioritizing their unhinged hatred of President Trump over American interests and national security.”

The White House also posted clips of Secretary of State Marco Rubio denying that the strikes required congressional approval and pushing back against other criticisms.

“This was not an action that required congressional approval. In fact, it couldn’t require congressional approval because this was not an invasion. This is not an extended military operation," Rubio said.