House Republicans defeat efforts to rein in Trump on alleged Venezuelan, Caribbean boat strikes

House Republicans on Wednesday successfully curtailed Democratic efforts to rein in President Donald Trump's authority to conduct missile strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and from Venezuela. 

The House voted against two Democratic resolutions that sought to limit the president's and his administration's power to attack the boats. The first failed in a 210-216 split, and the second failed 211-213.

The first resolution, introduced by New York Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, sought to direct Trump to stop "hostilities with any presidentially designated terrorist organization in the Western Hemisphere” unless authorized by Congress, according to The Hill.

The second resolution was introduced by Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern and would have ordered the president “to remove the use of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela,” without Congressional approval.

The resolutions come after Trump designated the Venezuelan government a "foreign terrorist organization" on Tuesday, along with other Latin American drug cartels. The United States military has conducted at least two dozen strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific so far, killing at least 95 “narco-terrorists.” 

A War Powers resolution in the Senate also failed earlier this year, which would have prohibited the president from using military force "against non-state organizations until formally authorized by Congress.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.