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GOP senators join Democrats to stop Trump from policing Venezuela

GOP senators join Democrats to stop Trump from policing Venezuela

President Donald Trump suffered a rare defeat from his own party on Thursday when a handful of Senate Republicans rebelled to curb his usage of military force in Venezuela.  The attempt to reassert Congress’ war powers authority, led by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., survived despite broad support among most Senate Republicans, who argued that Trump’s use of the military in Venezuela was justified.  Among the defectors were Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who co-sponsored the resolution, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Todd Young, R-Ind., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo.  But Thursday’s successful vote, which also handed Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., a rare defeat on the floor, is just the first step before the resolution officially passes. The Senate will have to take another vote, this time with the 60-vote filibuster threshold, before it becomes official.  TRUMP EMBRACES US INTERVENTION IN VENEZUELA, OPENS DOOR TO BROADER LATIN AMERICA PUSH Kaine’s resolution would effectively end any further military operations involving Venezuela without explicit congressional approval. It was one of many bids since Trump took office last year by the bipartisan group to claw back Congress’ authority in weighing in on military action. The outcome of the vote remained an open question, even just moments before the final gavel.  The defectors were on the fence on whether to rein Trump in following a classified briefing with administration officials on Operation Absolute Resolve, the codename of the mission to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Their issues weren’t necessarily with the actual operation itself, but with what comes next. And more specifically, if there would be further military activity in the country. “We were told that there are currently no boots on the ground. Is it an option? What I heard was that everything is an option,” Hawley said. KENNEDY SAYS MILITARY ACTION ON GREENLAND WOULD BE ‘WEAPONS-GRADE STUPID’ AS GOP RESISTS FORCE But top administration officials, and several congressional Republicans briefed on the matter throughout the week, argued that the strikes in Venezuela were justified and that the military was used to assist in a law enforcement operation to capture Maduro. Still, Senate Republican leadership was confident they would have the votes needed to kill the bipartisan resolution. “Republicans support what the president has done,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said. “It was an incredible act and the military was absolutely superb.” Before the vote, Kaine and Paul were already looking ahead at other opportunities to curb the administration’s use of military force without congressional approval. WHITE HOUSE SAYS ‘RANGE OF OPTIONS,’ INCLUDING US MILITARY, ON TABLE AS TRUMP RENEWS PUSH TO ACQUIRE GREENLAND Greenland reemerged as a hot topic on the Hill this week, following comments from Trump officials that indicated that military action wasn’t off the table to capture the colossal, resource-rich Arctic territory, where the U.S. already has a military base. Several Republicans like the idea of purchasing the territory from Denmark but have not yet committed to claiming it by force. There are other countries that have entered or long been in Trump’s crosshairs for conquest, too, that the duo want to ensure Congress has a say on. “We’re going to be working with others to file resolutions about Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Greenland,” Kaine said. “And Nigeria — people didn’t pay attention but there was a U.S. military strike in Nigeria.” Paul said he would likely support future war powers resolutions, given his strong feelings about Congress’ constitutional authority. “I’ve supported most of them, all of them,” Paul said. “I probably will continue to support them, because I — there’s some symbolism to this too, and symbolism is over, who should initiate and declare war, which I feel strongly about.”

Gubernatorial candidate in key 2028 White House election cycle state announces record fundraising haul

Gubernatorial candidate in key 2028 White House election cycle state announces record fundraising haul

FIRST ON FOX: An Iowa House Republican is announcing a record-setting fundraising haul in his quest for higher office. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, raised $4.3 million in seven months of campaigning for governor through 2025, with roughly 2,000 individual contributions. It’s the most a Republican candidate in Iowa has raised in an off-year without any major elections, his campaign told Fox News Digital. REPUBLICAN SEN. JONI ERNST OF IOWA MAKES IT OFFICIAL: SHE’S NOT SEEKING RE-ELECTION NEXT YEAR Whoever wins the governorship in Iowa this November will be a key player in the next presidential election cycle, when national attention will surge to Des Moines ahead of the Iowa caucuses in the race to replace President Donald Trump. “Our campaign set this record of $4.3 million raised because Iowans believe in our vision to take our state to new heights and advance President Trump’s America First agenda in Iowa,” Feenstra said in a statement. Feenstra, a member of the influential House Agriculture and Ways and Means committees, was first elected to Congress in 2020. He currently represents Iowa’s heavily rural 4th Congressional District. TOP GOP SENATOR STEPS UP EFFORTS TO PROTECT REPUBLICAN MAJORITY IN 2026 MIDTERMS The Midwest lawmaker is considered the polling and fundraising frontrunner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in this year’s race to succeed retiring longtime GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds.  The conservative governor, who has served in office since 2017, announced last April that she wouldn’t seek re-election in 2026. Also running for the Republican nomination are Adam Steen, former director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, state Rep. Eddie Andrews, and former state Rep. Brad Sherman. Iowa Auditor Rob Sand is seen as the frontrunner to become the gubernatorial Democratic nominee. The Cook Report, a leading nonpartisan political handicapper, rates the Iowa gubernatorial race as Lean Republicans. Another top handicapper, Inside Elections, ranks the race as Likely Republican.