NEWYou can now hear to Fox News articles!
A majority of House Republicans banded collectively on Thursday to defeat a bipartisan war powers decision that might have restricted President Donald Trump from taking future navy motion in Venezuela.
The House GOP managed to defeat the measure with its razor-thin majority in a victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the White House.
The decision failed in a 215-215 vote, falling in need of securing a majority wanted to succeed. Only two Republicans, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., voted in favor of the package deal.
RAND PAUL BREAKS WITH TRUMP ON VENEZUELA, CALLS ACTION ‘WAR’ AS SENATE PREPARES CONSTITUTIONAL SHOWDOWN
The White House sharply rebuked the laws when requested by Fox News Digital on Thursday. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg through Getty Images)
Speaker Johnson held the vote for over 20 minutes, shopping for Republicans to vote towards the decision. Eventually one Republican latecomer, Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Tx., arrived on the chamber, breaking the stalemate and dooming the measure.
“Close the vote!” Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., yelled as Republicans struggled to solidify their opposition. “This is serious s—!”
The invoice was sponsored by Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
The decision directs Trump to take away troops deployed to Venezuela and mirrors the same effort in the Senate aimed toward proscribing the administration from taking future navy motion in the nation.
Administration officers, together with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, say there are presently no U.S. armed forces in Venezuela, though Trump has ordered a naval blockade off the nation’s coast.
The White House sharply rebuked the laws when requested by Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“It’s a shame that these members of Congress want to usurp the authority of the commander in chief to take vital actions to strengthen our national security and stop drugs and criminals from entering our homeland,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly mentioned.
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., mentioned he anticipated Republicans would stick collectively to defeat the decision.
LOOMING WAR POWERS SENATE VOTE RAMPS UP PRESSURE ON HAWLEY AFTER MAGA BACKLASH
“I don’t think we will have any breaks on that,” Johnson advised Fox News Digital that morning.
“We are the last great superpower, and we have to allow the president the authority to use what is his under the Constitution,” Johnson mentioned, referring to Trump’s position as commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces. “I don’t think we need to get in the way of that.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters because the House debates a unbroken decision to restore authorities funding in Washington, Nov. 12, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu through Getty Images)
The McGovern-Massie decision comes after Trump ordered the seize of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month in what the administration has framed as a narrowly tailor-made regulation enforcement operation.
The White House contends that the U.S. has merely detained an alleged felony. Maduro and his spouse have been indicted in a New York court docket for allegedly facilitating drug trafficking in the U.S.
“The entire Trump administration coordinated to execute the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, who headed a major narco-trafficking foreign terrorist organization and was a fugitive of American justice,” Kelly mentioned.
Democrats like McGovern have pushed again on the GOP’s portrayal, elevating considerations that the U.S. might perform extra navy operations in Venezuela.
But the bipartisan House duo’s decision was barely completely different from the same piece of laws by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., additionally coping with Trump’s energy in Venezuela.
The House model would require the Trump administration to take away any U.S. forces in the area, regardless of officers telling lawmakers that there have been no boots on the bottom in the nation following the shock strikes and seize of Maduro.
The probability that Massie and McGovern’s decision would survive in the Senate is made tougher on condition that lawmakers in the higher chamber already killed Kaine’s push to require congressional authorization for any future navy actions in the area.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: REPUBLICANS SEEK EXIT FROM VENEZUELA WAR POWERS DEBATE AFTER RECENTLY VOTING FOR IT
Nicolás Maduro is seen in handcuffs after touchdown at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by closely armed federal brokers as they make their method into an armored automobile en route to a federal courthouse in Manhattan on Jan. 5, 2026, in New York City. (XNY/Star Max/GC Images through Getty Images)
Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., flipped their votes to kill the decision after assurances and ensures from administration officers, most notably Rubio, that there have been no boots on the bottom in the nation.
Still, Rubio is ready to seem earlier than the Senate Foreign Relations Committee subsequent week to lay out the administration’s plan in the area. His look additionally comes amid uncertainty about Trump’s plans with Greenland.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Rubio already teased that plan after one in every of a number of categorised briefings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. For now, the administration is contemplating a three-pronged plan in the area centered on stabilization, restoration and transition.
Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional crew at Fox News Digital. He was beforehand a reporter with World Magazine.
