On January 3, 2026, U.S. military forces executed a bold nighttime strike deep in Caracas, Venezuela, seizing the nation’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, and flying them to New York to face federal charges. The operation, codenamed Operation Absolute Resolve, involved coordinated action by elite units from the Army, Delta Force, Marines, Air Force, Navy and intelligence elements, which overwhelmed Venezuelan defenses, killed dozens of combatants, and injured several U.S. soldiers. Maduro and Flores were indicted on charges including narcoterrorism and cocaine trafficking in Manhattan federal court and pleaded not guilty. The United States justified the mission as part of its broader 2025–26 campaign against drug smuggling and terrorism, but the extraordinary use of force reignited a fierce constitutional and political battle at home over war powers and the proper role of Congress in authorizing military actions. (Wikipedia)
Within hours of the announcement, the Capitol was engulfed in debate. Lawmakers, diplomats and legal scholars immediately raised questions about whether the president’s actions exceeded constitutional limits and bypassed congressional authority. Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, presidents must notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying forces into hostilities and must end those hostilities within 60 days absent express congressional approval—requirements rooted in the Constitution’s division of war powers between the executive and legislative branches. But successive administrations have stretched those limits, and the Trump administration argued this seizure was a lawful “law enforcement” action that did not require advance approval. (Close Up Foundation)
