The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a joint resolution aimed at blocking new and hypothetical military incursions by the Donald Trump administration into Venezuela, with the support of five Republicans. The measure, largely symbolic, was approved with 52 votes in favor and 47 against, as five senators from Trump's party, which holds a slim majority in the chamber, joined the Democratic caucus. Although passage in the Senate is a significant first step, to be binding, it would also need to be approved by the House of Representatives, where Republicans also have a slim majority, and then be signed by Trump himself, who would surely veto it. To override the veto, both chambers would have to re-approve the resolution by a two-thirds majority. Meanwhile, the congressman for Massachusetts, Jim McGovern, celebrated the Senate's decision but urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to also bring the resolution to a vote in his chamber. Amid skepticism that this will happen, Democratic congressmen, led by McGovern, presented a new joint resolution similar to the one just passed by the Senate, which they plan to vote on in the House on January 22. The Democrat argued that the operation in Venezuela is not about democracy or human rights, but simply about Trump's interests in South American country's oil. "Something I have come to understand is that it is easy to get into wars, but it is incredibly difficult to get out of them," he said. "This is about oil."
