Overview
- Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, face SDNY charges including narco‑terrorism, cocaine trafficking and weapons offenses and will be brought to U.S. courts.
- The administration cast the mission as an arrest operation to execute longstanding warrants, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio telling lawmakers that U.S. forces acted to protect personnel during the capture.
- Republicans praised the action as bringing a narco‑trafficking leader to justice, with figures like Sens. Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz and Rick Scott lauding the operation and Vice President J.D. Vance defending its legality.
- Democrats labeled the strikes an unauthorized act of war and demanded briefings and a plan, with Sen. Tim Kaine moving to force a war‑powers vote and Rep. Jim Himes seeking the administration’s legal rationale.
- Key uncertainties persist over casualties, control inside Venezuela and next steps, even as some officials signal no further U.S. action is anticipated and polls show low public support for intervention.