Trump administration tells Congress it lacks legal basis for military action against Venezuela
Top Trump administration officials have informed members of Congress that the United States is not planning any military strikes inside Venezuela and currently has no legal basis to authorize such action.
The classified briefing, attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and a senior White House legal adviser, was convened to address growing congressional concerns over the administration’s expanding military operations in the Caribbean and the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group.
According to officials, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion — which provides the legal foundation for targeting suspected drug-trafficking vessels at sea — does not extend to land-based strikes within Venezuela or any other territory. They also clarified that the existing “execute order” for the anti-narcotics campaign launched in September is limited strictly to maritime operations and does not authorize attacks on land targets.
The officials did confirm, however, that the military assets being moved to the Caribbean are intended only to support counternarcotic operations and conduct intelligence gathering, not to prepare for a land strike. They also noted that the current OLC opinion authorizes targeting a list of 24 different cartels and criminal organizations across Latin America.
Despite the current legal limitations, the administration is reportedly seeking a separate legal opinion from the Justice Department. This new opinion would aim to provide a justification for launching strikes against land targets without requiring Congress to authorize military force.
One US official noted the fluid nature of the policy, stating, “What is true one day may very well not be the next,” emphasizing that the President has not yet made a final decision on how to handle the situation with Venezuela.
The briefing also touched on the administration’s controversial use of force at sea. The US military has carried out 16 known strikes against drug boats since September, resulting in the deaths of at least 67 people.
Administration officials acknowledged that the strikes are conducted based on intelligence connecting the vessels to specific cartels or criminal organizations, and they do not necessarily know the individual identities of every person on board before attacking.
While Republican Senator Mark Warner expressed confidence in the intelligence assets used for tracking illegal drugs, he questioned why the administration uses lethal force instead of relying on the Coast Guard’s traditional methods of interdiction, which would secure evidence.
Meanwhile, House Foreign Affairs ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks said he was left unconvinced by the legal rationale, stating, “nothing” he heard convinced him of the strikes’ legality.