Missouri’s Hawley & Schmitt abandon principles (again) to side with Trump’s imperialistic ambitions in Venezuela

Art by Lee Leslie @leeleslie.bsky.social

Missouri’s Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, the pair of far-right Republicans who have the duty of representing the Show Me State in Washington, D.C., voted last week against a war powers resolution that would prevent President Donald J. Trump from pressing on with his imperialist, oil-driven ambitions in Venezuela.

This was an error.

Civilians died. Both the U.S. government’s allies and adversaries condemned the attack. Both men, especially Hawley, continue to betray their morals to curry favor from a mad king who rules punitively. They are complicit, and all Missourians should be appalled.

In the early morning of January 3, the United States military initiated an attack on the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, targeting the official residence of the authoritarian head of the country, President Nicolas Maduro, and his wife. This was a clear escalation of an ongoing crisis in the Caribbean Sea, which featured targeted attacks authorized by the Trump White House that resulted in the U.S. military targeting and destroying so-called “drug boats” off the coast of the country.

The incursion to secure and capture Maduro was, reportedly, pursuant to a federal indictment related to “narco-terrorism” crimes.

According to announcements from both the Venezuelan and U.S. governments, civilians were killed in the attack that involved special ground forces and air units. Independent investigations into the attack, including several sweeping analyses by Bellingcat, found that the U.S. attack was so expansive that ordinance ended up in residential buildings in the city of Catia La Mar, which is over 30 kilometers from the capital city of Caracas. The Intercept also reported shortly after the Jan. 3 attacks that U.S. Southern Command, the geographical major military command covering Latin America, is unable to deal with the volumes of Venezuelan civilian casualty reports. This is due to the Defense Department’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence having its primary funding gutted last summer.

Maduro appeared in a federal district court in New York soon after the attack, leaving both countries and the international community reeling from literal shock and awe. In no capacity do I defend Maduro—a “president” who used his power and government to squash political opposition, the country’s free and independent press, and trample on basic human rights. But the harm done to international peace by the Trump presidency and his dedication to revitalizing the U.S. government’s enterprise in twentieth-century adventurism and imperialism across Latin America speaks to the president’s very own authoritarian fetish. Sens. Hawley and Schmitt enabled the man, thereby adding to their complicity. Soon after the January 3 attack, Democratic and some Republican senators signed on to a war powers resolution that would rebuke Trump’s use of the military in Venezuela until both chambers of Congress officially authorize further military actions.

S.J. Res. 98 was proposed with the sponsorship of senior Democrats and conservative libertarian Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. The resolution, led by Sen. Tim Kaine—one of the two Democratic senators from Virginia—simply reiterated that the U.S. Congress holds the “sole power to declare war under Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution.” Further, the resolution notes that “Congress has not yet declared war upon Venezuela or any person or organization within Venezuela, nor enacted a specific statutory authorization for use of military force within or against Venezuela.”

This measure was purely symbolic, but with the support of some Republican members, it was set to be a noteworthy rebuke of the Trump administration. Believe it or not, Sen. Hawley was one of the surprise senators who looked ready to buck his party and Trump.

According to earlier reporting, Hawley asked himself via reporters, “Does Congress need to authorize future in-country military operations? And I think we probably will need to under Article I.”

If Hawley maintained his rebuke, he would be living up to his political promises to Missouri’s voters that he is a “constitutional originalist” in all of its forms.

In true short order, though, Hawley flipped his vote with Sen. Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, to support the administration’s actions in Venezuela by voting against a measure that both expressed very legitimate concerns over further military actions. But the Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly gave “assurances” that no more ground troops would be deployed into the country—even if deployments are called for to secure White House-sponsored oil extraction and anti-environmental investments by firms like Halliburton and Chevron. Trump posted on his social media that Republicans opposing his administration’s military incursions and planned imperialistic puppeteering within Venezuela were demonstrating “stupidity.” President Trump also posted that, “Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again.” Days later, Sens. Hawley and Young flipped in Trump’s favor.

Sen. Paul, Sen. Collins of Maine, and Sen. Murkowski of Alaska sided with Democrats in the Senate, leading to a 50-50 vote split, requiring Vice President J.D. Vance—a man who once compared Trump to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler—to break the vote against the resolution, stymying the constitutional powers vested in Congress. And Sen. Schmitt simply towed the party line as a good, useless MAGA soldier. There is yet no other major military action that I know of in Venezuela at this time. But I genuinely believe that the United States is looking down the barrel of a destined-to-fail exercise in nation-building that will further result in violent intervention and indefinite occupation. How does this serve the people of Missouri and the American project? It doesn’t. The reasons are clear.

Hawley and Schmitt should be appalled. But they aren’t.

They relish this rising political tension, augmented by racist politics and white supremacy in the Republican Party.

After the past weeks, an ongoing military intervention in Venezuela seems about right. But that goes beyond the scope of this column. I can simply reiterate the obvious: Sens. Hawley and Schmitt cannot distance themselves from the consequences of their votes against the war powers resolution. When Congress surrenders its authority, civilians pay the price and democracy dies. We deserve senators who serve us, not Trump’s impulses.

Michael McGrady Jr. is a columnist for The Kansas City Pitch.