Overview
- The administration is reviewing plans to hit Venezuelan military sites, conduct special-operations raids, or seize oil infrastructure, and it has authorized CIA covert activity, according to multiple reports, though no decision has been made.
- Justice Department and Office of Legal Counsel advisers argue current maritime strikes are not “hostilities” under the War Powers Resolution and are drafting updated justifications for any potential actions on Venezuelan soil.
- Senators Rand Paul, Tim Kaine, and Adam Schiff plan to revive a measure to require congressional approval before expanded military action, even as several Republicans signal support for the president’s approach.
- A major U.S. force posture remains in place with the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group, at least eight Navy ships, a nuclear-powered submarine, and roughly 6,000 sailors and Marines, while about 15–16 suspected drug boats have been destroyed and more than 60 people killed since September.
- Maduro has sought military assistance from Russia, but analysts say Moscow’s ability to offer more than rhetorical backing is limited by logistics and its ongoing war in Ukraine.