My statement on the attack and potential occupation of Venezuela
The silence of the Republican Congress has led us to this moment and it won't end until they are replaced
The Republican Doormat Congress
What happened in Venezuela didn’t start last night. It didn’t start with President Trump’s dangerous decision or with one reckless order. It started years ago, and has continued to grow as Congress chooses weakness over responsibility, loyalty to party over responsibility, and silence over leadership. When lawmakers abandon their constitutional duty, power doesn’t disappear. It concentrates. And eventually, it explodes into exactly this kind of chaos.
Last night’s unauthorized strikes, raid, and now promised occupation, of Venezuela did not happen in a vacuum. On December 1st, Donald Trump pardoned a former Honduran president convicted of conspiring to traffic cocaine into the United States. On Christmas, U.S. forces carried out military strikes in Nigeria. Now, last night, American service members were sent into Venezuela to seize Nicolás Maduro on similar charges. Today, the president openly hinted that Mexico could be next. Different countries. Different excuses. Same pattern. A president acting without restraint because Congress refuses to draw a line.
That failure belongs to Congress. And here in Missouri’s Second District, it belongs squarely to Ann Wagner. She has sat on the sidelines and abandoned her Constitutional duty outlined in Article I of the Constitution in pursuit of political and personal gain and cowardice in the face of retribution from the leader of her party.
We can agree that Maduro and his regime are evil and deserve justice while demanding answers and proper following of the U.S. Constitution and our laws. We cannot agree that Maduro must see justice then ignore and support the pardoning of Honduran President Hernandez for the exact same crimes without any acknowledgment of this hypocrisy from Congress.
Congress must immediately convene and debate a war powers resolution and assert their Constitutional control of our military actions. That power does not belong to the president alone. The Founders understood that unchecked power is how republics fail and how wars begin without consent or accountability.
America used to win not just through strength, but through righteousness. We fought with legitimacy and restraint because we followed our own laws. When Congress did its job, American power carried honor. When it doesn’t, force replaces leadership and chaos follows.
I am a combat veteran of Desert Storm and three tours in Iraq from 2003-2008. President Trump has now publicly committed this nation to a prolonged occupation of Venezuela and opening of its oil production to U.S. companies. I know how this ends. I know what this means for our sons and daughters. Congress must act immediately.
Silence is a choice. Abdication is a choice. Ann Wagner and this Congress have made theirs. I will make a different one. When I am in Congress, I will demand oversight, force accountability, and make sure no president sends Americans into harm’s way on a whim. Our service members, Missouri families, and this country deserves a Congress that remembers its duty.
Hooray for your statements. We need legislators who will declare this military action by a demented, deteriorating bully illegal and unconstitutional!!
We are so screwed. But where’s the checks and balances in our country.. they’re gone and we have a President who will do whatever he wants..FvCK