Capitol Hill revolt threatens Trump’s Venezuela playbook amid Caribbean strike oversight
Congress wants to seize the reins and take greater control of U.S. military action in the Caribbean, as the Trump administration’s strikes in the region’s waters come under intense scrutiny....
By Fox News · Fox News
Congress wants to seize the reins and take greater control of U.S. military action in the Caribbean, as the Trump administration ’s strikes in the region’s waters come under intense scrutiny. While some lawmakers have been questioning the legality of strikes that the administration says aim to cut down on the flow of drugs into the U.S., the attacks have attracted heightened scrutiny amid revelations that U.S. forces conducted a second strike killing alleged drug smugglers Sept. 2 – after a first strike left survivors. Lawmakers have voiced concerns about the legality of that strike. From introducing new legislation restricting funds for the Trump administration’s operations in the region, to urging the White House to release video footage of the second strike, there is mounting interest from Democrats and some Republicans to reassert its power to formally initiate military conflict. Bolstered Congressional oversight could likely prompt the Trump administration to exercise more caution regarding land strikes, and potentially pivot and employ new strategic tactics, according to experts. SEN KENNEDY BLASTS 'HYSTERICAL' COLLEAGUES, SAYS CARTEL STRIKE CRITICS 'EXCEEDED THE LIMITS OF THEIR MEDS' "At this point I think we have to assume that increased Congressional oversight will make military action inside Venezuela less likely, unless the White House presents a clearer case for it," Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council international affairs think tank, said in an email to Fox News Digital Monday. Trump has spoken for weeks about potentially conducting land operations within Venezuela, and said Wednesday that strikes on land would start happening "very soon." Katherine Thompson, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, said that while she doesn’t anticipate that the administration will back away from its broader border security mission, she said that the administration will likely "shift the…