Senators vow push to prohibit US military action in Venezuela if Trump pursues strikes against the country

By Fox News · Fox News

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., have indicated that if President Donald Trump pursues military action against Venezuela, they will seek to prohibit U.S. attacks against the foreign nation. During a Senate floor speech on Monday, Schumer said he, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., "will immediately file a war powers resolution to force congressional action to block the use of troops in Venezuela" should Trump move to carry out strikes against the South American country. "Americans do not want a pointless war in Venezuela," he declared. During a Monday appearance on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," Schumer said, "First, the bill is bipartisan — it's Rand Paul, Tim Kaine, myself, and I think now, Senator [Adam] Schiff." TRUMP SAYS ‘DON’T READ ANYTHING INTO IT' WHEN ASKED ABOUT DECLARING VENEZUELA'S AIRSPACE CLOSED Schiff is a Democrat from California. Kaine indicated during a Sunday appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that if the U.S. conducts military action against Venezuela, he will "immediately" move with Schumer, Paul and Schiff. When asked about U.S. potentially attacking Venezuela directly, the White House instead appeared to reference the War Department's ongoing campaign striking suspected narco-terror boats in the Caribbean. "On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to take on the cartels – and he has taken unprecedented action to stop the scourge of narcoterrorism that has resulted in the needless deaths of innocent Americans. All of these decisive strikes have been against designated narcoterrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores, and the President will continue to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. Earlier this year, Kaine, Paul and Schiff pushed a joint resolution to prohibit the president from unilaterally attacking Venezuela, but the effort was stymied when all but two Rep…