Catholic leaders in Congress reacted with both approval and criticism of the White House’s strikes in Venezuela and capture of President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, described the Maduro regime as “narco-terrorists.”
“They’ve flooded our country with deadly drugs, killing innocent Americans and destroying families. Maduro, who is an illegitimate dictator, and his wife were rightfully indicted in U.S. courts for their heinous crimes,” the Republican said.
“Today, President Trump continued to take decisive action to put America first and protect the American people by pursuing an arrest warrant for Maduro and his wife,” he said.
Idaho GOP Sen. Jim Risch, meanwhile, said Maduro was “a grave threat to America.”
“He facilitated the flow of deadly drugs into our country, allowed U.S. adversaries to establish a foothold alarmingly close to our shores, and destabilized a region too close to home for comfort,” the senator said in a statement, describing the White House’s strikes as “meaningful action to protect our national security and eliminate a serious threat to the American people.”
Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, in contrast, said in a statement that the military action represented “a sickening return to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere.”
“Where will this go next? Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal?” Kaine asked, calling on Congress to “reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace, diplomacy and trade.”
And Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, said in a statement that though Maduro is a “brutal dictator,” it is “entirely possible to hate Maduro and also to strongly condemn the decision to remove him by force.”
“President Trump did not seek congressional authorization for this use of force, and Congress did not grant it. Under our Constitution and the law, that makes this action illegal,” McGovern said.