CENTRAL VALLEY, Calif. (KFSN) — Reaction is coming in from across Central California after the United States carried out a military operation in Venezuela early Saturday morning.
“To simply go in and seize him in the middle of the night, that’s a pretty extraordinary thing,” said Fresno State political professor Tom Holyoke.
Holyoke says the operation, which targeted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, is highly unusual.
President Trump did not seek congressional authorization before it was executed, and it’s now drawing sharp reaction from local Congressional leaders.
Democratic Congressman Jim Costa writing in a statement, “reports that the President acted without consulting Congress are deeply troubling. The Constitution is clear that Congress must be involved before the use of military force.”
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Congressman Costa also questioned the administration’s priorities, writing, “It should be focused on lowering costs like health care, housing, and groceries, not sudden military action overseas.”
And as details continue to emerge, many are questioning the legality of the situation.
“One could easily argue that what we did today was an act of war against Venezuela. And only Congress has the power to declare the United States at war with another country,” Holyoke said.
But in a statement to Action News, Republican Congressman David Valadao praised the move, writing in part, “The Maduro regime has inflicted violence, corruption, and suffering on the Venezuelan people, and today that ends.”
His fellow republican Vince Fong, also applauding the administration, wrote, “I commend President Trump and our brave men and women in uniform for bringing Maduro into custody. I look forward to him standing trial in the Southern District of New York.”
Holyoke believes that answering these legal questions could be key to adding context to President Trump’s intentions going forward.
The President has said the United States will effectively “run Venezuela” from this point on.
“Are we going back in? I don’t know. And if we do, are we going to govern it like we did in Iraq and Afghanistan, which didn’t go very well? I don’t know,” Holyoke said.
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