GOP senators flip votes to crush Venezuela war powers resolution

Amna Nawaz:

Senate GOP leaders today dropped a resolution on war powers in Venezuela after five Republicans voted to move forward with the measure last week. That, coupled with articles of impeachment filed against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and threats to hold the Clintons in criminal contempt of Congress, made the day a busy one on the Hill.

Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins has been covering all this and more from the Capitol, where she joins me from now.

Lisa, good to see you.

Let’s start with Venezuela, that big vote in the Senate today on whether to prevent President Trump from using the military in or around the country without congressional approval. What do we need to know?

Lisa Desjardins:

right. This effort is now over.

President Trump has now not been rebuked for today’s Senate action. What happened is that Republican leaders found a workaround, which is essentially a procedural way in which they can avoid this vote altogether, and a point of order.

And they made a point of order by convincing the other senators, that this vote was not proper – the way they were taking it, because, as they put it, the United States had no conflict. The United States is not actively involved in Venezuela at this time.

And effectively, what that did, Amna, is it gave these Republicans, some of them on the fence, a way out. So what happened is two Republicans flipped their votes from last week to this. Let’s take a look at who these are. These are Republicans Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana.

They generally supported this resolution, but today voted to repeal it. However, there were still three Republicans who voted yes. They are Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

So, Amna, what this means, I say, is that the war powers remain completely intact for President Trump. He can use any military force he wants or doesn’t want, but he knows that Congress is watching him. The other issue here is that there was no comprehensive debate, which is what the senators said they were fighting for.

Amna Nawaz:

All right, Lisa, take us to the House now, there’s a major issue there, which is the Affordable Care Act subsidies that have expired. I know millions of people are watching and following this. I spoke to senators involved in those conversations. What did they tell you?

Lisa Desjardins:

This was actually brief. These talks are now at an impasse.

The bipartisan senators I spoke to agreed on some broad outlines for a two-year extension with some additional, but mostly moderate, restrictions. But it has hit some solid walls, including debates over abortion policies. We will monitor this closely.

But the truth now, Amna, is that the path to extending this support is becoming more and more narrow, and it may disappear in the coming weeks.

Amna Nawaz:

We mentioned in the introduction to this conversation the talk of impeachment, but not of President Trump. Tell us about it.

Lisa Desjardins:

right.

We’re talking about Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Today, Democrats led by Illinois Representative Robin Kelly filed articles of impeachment against her on several grounds, including that she violated the public trust by the way she deployed ICE officers across the country, or acted violently against American citizens, they said.

There are other insulation articles here as well. But the Department of Homeland Security quickly responded, saying this was illegal, they said. Here’s what the spokesperson specifically said: “How ridiculous during a dangerous time. As ICE officers face a 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, Rep. Kelly is focusing more on showmanship and fundraising clicks.”

For her part, Representative Kelly responded to this.

Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Illinois):

Secretary Noem, you have violated your oath of office, and there will be consequences. I’m watching you. Members of Congress are watching you. Most importantly, the American people are watching you. Most of all, we don’t like what we see.

If you think impeachment is ridiculous, you’re not taking your job or our Constitution seriously.

Lisa Desjardins:

This is special, so Representative Kelly can bring this up on the House floor any time from now on.

Amna Nawaz:

And finally, Lisa, we know that House Republicans are preparing to take action against former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary Hillary Clinton. What should we know about it?

Lisa Desjardins:

Quickly, this is from House Oversight Chairman James Comer. He said there would be a vote next week on whether to hold them in contempt of court because they refused to testify behind closed doors despite the committee issuing a subpoena.

This is linked to the Epstein investigation, but former President Clinton said: No, he doubts that. He says they are detained among all those summoned to receive special treatment, which he doubts. He also criticized the committee for not doing enough to obtain more of Epstein’s actual documents from the Justice Department.

So we’ll continue to watch this.

Amna Nawaz:

Busy day, as we said, on Capitol Hill, Lisa Desjardins has it all covered, as always.

Lisa, thank you.

Lisa Desjardins:

You’re welcome.