Another day, another War Powers resolution, but this time it came from the House of Representatives.
Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) introduced it on January 7 to “direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.” That’s literally it.
H. CON. RES. 68 was initially cosponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — shocking, I know — before about 123 Democrats jumped on the bandwagon. On Thursday evening, after a rather heated debate, it was finally put to a vote.
The resolution only needed a simple majority to pass, and it almost had it. The final vote was a 215-215 tie with Massie and Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) jumping party lines to vote with the 213 Democrats.
🚨 BREAKING: US House REJECTS War Powers Resolution to rein in President Trump’s military actions on Venezuela, 215-215
GOP YEAs: Thomas Massie, Don Bacon
TRUMP WINS, AGAIN! 🇺🇸🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/zz8QJZmQvy
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 22, 2026
Here’s the thing: It was almost 215-214 because Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) was about half an hour away from the Capitol at Dulles International Airport, but House Republicans managed to hold it for him. In response, Democrats began shouting and cursing.
According to The Hill, Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) yelled, “This is serious sh*t. Close the vote.”
“Shouldn’t we all agree, whether you support Trump’s actions or oppose them, that we should have a debate on this stuff — that we should authorize an expansion of military forces if that’s what’s in the future?” McGovern said from the House floor earlier. “This is crazy. We can’t be asleep at the switch — no oversight, no hearing, no votes, just blind obedience to the executive. That’s not the way this place is supposed to run.”
But Republicans argued that the Democrats were essentially playing make believe.
“There are no troops in Venezuela. Let me say it one more time for you all. There are no troops in Venezuela,” Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said.
He added, “The U.S. is not at war with Venezuela. I know you all predicted that there’s going to be some forever, protracted war, but we were never at war with Venezuela. There are no boots on the ground. Democrats are asking us to vote on a resolution about a situation that literally does not exist.”
I recommend watching his entire remarks here. They’re pretty entertaining.
.@RepBrianMast: There are no American troops in Venezuela. We are not at war with Venezuela.
President Trump accomplished the mission to take out Nicolas Maduro and we are not in hostilities with Venezuela: There is no need for the War Resolution. pic.twitter.com/UgEzT9PKIT
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) January 22, 2026
But he makes a good point. Anytime Democrats vote in unity I’m always a little suspicious anyway. Plus, even if any of these resolutions passed — the Senate has tried this something like three times — Donald Trump would just veto them. It’s all theater. Your tax dollars at work.
Mast and the rest of the House Foreign Affairs Committee actually met with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado earlier this week and honored her with a United States flag that flew over the Capitol. It was a bipartisan meeting, and I find it a little ironic that the Democrats praised Machado and her mission to bring democracy to Venezuela to her face, but they still pull stunts like this. These people don’t care about democracy or Venezuela or anything else that does not involve making Donald Trump look bad.
Chairman @RepBrianMast: I was happy to invite 🇻🇪 Venezuelan opposition leader @MariaCorinaYA to address the members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She has demonstrated herself to be a strong, capable, and inspirational leader.
Thanks to 🇺🇸 President Trump, Venezuela… pic.twitter.com/5X11tgjgbI
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) January 21, 2026
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