Democratic Sen. John Fetterman supported the war powers resolution that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further strikes in Venezuela after previously signaling he could oppose it.
Fetterman published a statement on social media saying he believes the “arrest of (authoritarian President Nicolas) Maduro was a positive development for Venezuela and its people” and saluted the “incredible military for their precise execution.”
“I voted AYE on this resolution to discharge it from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee so we can continue this important debate on the floor of the Senate,” he added.
Fetterman joined all Democrats and five Republicans (Todd Young, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins) in supporting the resolution. However, it still has virtually no chances of becoming law because Trump would have to sign it should it pass the House.
Fetterman joined Democrats after disagreeing with many on the matter throughout the past months. Most recently he criticized his own party for failing to “acknowledge” that the capture of Maduro was a positive development for the South American country.
In a social media publication, Fetterman recalled that “less than a year ago, President Biden upped the Maduro bounty to $25,000,000.”
“Removing Maduro was positive for Venezuela. As a Democrat, I don’t understand why we can’t acknowledge a good development for Venezuelans—and how deft our military’s execution of that plan was,” Fetterman added.
Axios also reported earlier this week that some in the more centrist wing of the party have suggested in private that colleagues should be celebrating Maduro’s capture rather than denouncing it.
Failing to support the ousting of Maduro, widely seen as a brutal dictator and labeled as a narco-terrorist by the Trump administration, could prove to be a significant political misstep, some of them told the outlet.
One swing-district House Democrat told Axios that, in the eyes of many in the party, “everything Trump touches must be bad according to the base,” adding that “nuance is dead in politics.”
Another House member said Democrats should not condemn the operation and wished his colleagues would take a “more measured” approach. A third centrist lawmaker described his party’s response as “weak,” adding, “If you don’t acknowledge when there is a win for our country, then you lose all credibility.”
Originally published on Latin Times
