WASHINGTON — In a speech in Michigan Tuesday, President Trump denounced U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and other Republicans who voted to check his use of military power in Venezuela.
Trump said he’s plagued by some “real losers” on the Republican side. He name-checked Murkowski but focused his ire mostly on Sen. Rand Paul. Trump said he did rallies for Paul in Kentucky.
“Then he votes against all the time. It's just crazy. I don't get it," Trump said. "Then you have Lisa Murkowski and you have Susan Collins, disasters. And you had a gentleman from Indiana that I don't believe, that Todd Young. He voted against, and you'd say, why are you voting against? They can't give you an answer.”
Five senators — the ones Trump named plus Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. — voted to advance a war powers resolution last week. If enacted, the resolution would prohibit Trump from using further military force against Venezuela without the approval of Congress.
The resolution infuriated Trump, who personally called each of the senators Thursday to berate them for their votes.
Murkowski had nothing but praise for the military operation that deposed Venezuela’s president and brought him to the United States for trial. She called it masterful and precise. But she said she has concerns about what comes next as the Trump administration tries to control Venezuela.
“I don't want this to be a war," she said recently. "I don't think the president wants to be at war. So this is how we're making sure that we're not going to be at war in Venezuela.”
As for Trump’s anger at her, Murkowski shrugged it off.
"Let's just say, I've been in this boat before, where I have met the displeasure of the president," she said in an interview last week.
When it comes to decisions like using military force, Murkowski said she can’t shirk from what she sees as her obligation under the Constitution just because the president will criticize her.
The Senate was expected to bring the war powers resolution to a final vote this week, but Axios and other publications report that, under heavy pressure from the Trump administration, Republican leaders are trying to figure out ways to drop it.
