Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said this morning that it’s “uncertain at this point” whether the Senate will vote today on the war powers resolution related to Venezuela that advanced in the chamber last week.
“We’re still having conversations with some of our members,” he said.
The majority leader seemed to be alluding to the idea that the Senate could vote to dismiss the resolution as not germane because the White House has given assurances that no troops are on the ground in Venezuela now and there are no plans to send any in the future.
“I think that it’s pretty clear, in my view at least, that there are no hostilities that exist today,” which suggests the measure shouldn’t be expedited on the floor,” Thune said. He acknowledged that a motion to dismiss the resolution would also need the votes to pass.
The Senate voted 52-47 last week to advance the resolution to a final vote, with five Republicans supporting the legislation. Trump and administration officials have been calling those five republicans to try to get them to flip. Sen Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said the calls were “very helpful, very substantive.”