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Last Updated on February 4, 2026.

WASHINGTON –  In response to the Senate’s 51-50 vote to kill the Kaine-Paul War Powers Resolution for Venezuela, Win Without War Government Relations Director Eric Eikenberry released the following statement: 

“Less than a week after finally finding its spine on matters of war and peace, the Senate promptly lost it. Last night’s defeat of Senator Kaine’s war powers resolution to end hostilities against Venezuela — an urgently needed measure that garnered bipartisan support on the floor days ago — was a disgrace.

“It was a disgrace politically, with Republican leadership marshaling a procedural trick to halt debate on the resolution. We thank the 50 Democrats and Republicans who held firm to the commonsense conclusion that bombing a country, blockading its vessels, and seizing its oil are, in fact, acts of war. But two Republican senators buckled under pressure from party leadership and traded their constitutional duty for empty assurances from an administration that has repeatedly lied and dissembled to Congress. 

“Much more importantly, however, it was a disgrace morally. President Trump is murdering people in international waters, invading countries, and threatening new land grabs throughout the Western Hemisphere. By stifling debate on this WPR, Senate Republicans have endorsed a policy of stealing oil for billionaire oil barons who don’t want it, and of addressing the fentanyl crisis by bombing boats that don’t have it, all while decimating public health and drug treatment programs. This vote only emboldens Trump to press on with his violent and destabilizing foreign policy.

“There is one silver lining: Administration officials spent the last week running scared, and even had to send the Vice President to break a stalemated vote. Despite their false bravado, they, and we, know that Congress has the power to prevent Trump from starting wars on a whim. Now they just have to use it.” 

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Win Without War is a diverse network of activists and national organizations working for progressive foreign policy in the United States.

January 15, 2026