Sen. Susan Collins voted with Democrats to move a controversial resolution forward on Thursday that would require President Donald Trump to immediately cease all hostilities with Venezuela without congressional authorization.
Sen. Collins says that she maintains her support for the military action that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but she believes Congress should be involved before any prolonged military operation takes place.
[RELATED: President Trump: U.S. CARRIES OUT STRIKE ON VENEZUELA, MADURO CAPTURED…]
“With Maduro rightfully captured, the circumstances have now changed. While I support the operation to seize Nicolas Maduro, which was extraordinary in its precision and complexity, I do not support committing additional U.S. forces or entering into any long-term military involvement in Venezuela or Greenland without specific congressional authorization,” said Collins.
“I believe invoking the War Powers Act at this moment is necessary, given the President’s comments about the possibility of ‘boots on the ground’ and a sustained engagement ‘running’ Venezuela, with which I do not agree,” she added.
The Senate held a procedural vote on Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) resolution demanding the immediate cessation of all hostilities against Venezuela unless Congress directly approves the action or issues a formal declaration of war.
The procedural motion passed with a 52-47 vote, and ensures that Congress will hold a vote next week on the resolution’s actual passage.
Laws surrounding War Powers resolutions like Sen. Kaine’s allow them to pass with only a simple majority.
Collins joined Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and all the Democratic senators in voting in favor of the resolution.
Four other Republicans, Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.), also supported the resolution, and Sen. Paul even served as a co-sponsor.
Collins explained her vote, saying that she supports the removal of Maduro as an illegitimate dictator and drug trafficker with a bounty and pending charges in the U.S. She noted that the resolution contains no language regarding his removal.
She is concerned, however, about the potential for a wider war involving U.S. ground forces and about the President’s claim that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela temporarily.
She also expressed concerns about a potential war to take Greenland, as President Trump has ramped up his discussion of acquiring it, though Kaine’s resolution only addresses Venezuela.
After passing through the Senate, the resolution will need to pass the Republican-controlled House. If that happens, Trump will have an opportunity to veto it, making it extremely unlikely that the resolution will go into effect.
Following the procedural vote, Trump issued a statement criticizing Collins and the other Republicans who supported the War Powers Resolution.
“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again,” said Trump.
“This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President’s Authority as Commander in Chief,” he added.
Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) criticized Collins following the vote, suggesting that Collins only acted for political gain, and failed to vote on a similar resolution in November, prior to the capture of Maduro.
“Susan Collins had the chance to stand up to Donald Trump and reassert Congressional authority months ago, but instead she refused, giving him the greenlight to unilaterally move us towards war in Venezuela,” said Gov. Mills.
“My problem with Susan Collins is that she never does the right or hard thing the first time when it’s needed most–only when it serves her politically–and we always pay the price,” she added.
The Collins campaign responded with a statement provided to The Maine Wire, accusing Mills of believing Maduro should remain in power, and highlighting her own inaction on the Chinese-operated marijuana grows across her own state.
“The difference between Senator Collins and Governor Mills is that Governor Mills believes that Nicolas Maduro, an international narco-terrorist, should still be freely operating his drug trafficking business, just like she has allowed Chinese nationals to continue to operate their illegal drug production facilities in Maine,” said Collins.
“Susan Collins opposes committing additional U.S. forces or entering into any long-term military involvement in Venezuela or Greenland without specific congressional authorization, and that is why she supported Senator Kaine’s motion today,” she added.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story attributed the quote from Collins’ campaign to Collins herself. We have updated the story to make the correct distinction
