By Anvee Bhutani, Lindsay Wise and Siobhan Hughes

WASHINGTON -- Two pivotal Senate Republicans agreed to drop their support for a war-powers resolution aimed at limiting President Trump's authority in Venezuela, after senior administration officials assured lawmakers that the U.S. has no plans to deploy ground troops or pursue a prolonged military occupation.

Republican leaders' successful push to block the measure Wednesday came after Trump had lashed out on social media and in phone calls at five Republican defectors who joined Democrats in an initial vote last week. Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri, two of the five GOP senators who had voted with Democrats last week, switched sides.

The 51-50 vote to kill the measure came after an intensive lobbying push by the White House and cabinet officials, especially Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who personally engaged skeptical GOP senators by arguing that the resolution was unnecessary and risked constraining the president during a fast-moving situation. Vice President JD Vance cast the deciding vote.

Young said he had received assurances from administration officials that there are no American troops in Venezuela and was given a commitment from Rubio -- in writing, which Young posted publicly -- that the administration would come to Congress in advance of any major military operations in Venezuela.

Earlier, Hawley said Rubio similarly assured him that the U.S. had neither deployed nor planned to deploy ground troops in Venezuela -- and that any such move would be brought to Congress.

"He just said to me point blank, 'We're not going to do ground troops,'" Hawley said. Hawley also said he reviewed legal materials from the Justice Department and spoke directly with Trump, who argued the resolution would "tie his hands."

Republican leaders argued that invoking the War Powers Act was premature. "There are no boots on the ground," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) told reporters.

The resolution sought to require explicit congressional authorization for sustained U.S. military involvement in Venezuela, following a U.S. operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.

Write to Anvee Bhutani at anvee.bhutani@wsj.com, Lindsay Wise at lindsay.wise@wsj.com and Siobhan Hughes at Siobhan.hughes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 14, 2026 18:38 ET (23:38 GMT)

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