Senate GOP chair declines hearings on Trump's boat attacks off Venezuela

Senate Foreign Relations Chair James Risch (R-Idaho) has no plans "at this time" to hold an oversight hearing on the Trump administration's deadly strikes on vessels off the coast of Venezuela.Why it matters: With a few exceptions, Senate Republicans have taken a back seat to President Trump's anti-narcotics tactics in the region. Risch told Axios he has been "briefed on it and feel comfortable with where we are."The U.S. has now struck nine vessels, killing more than 30 people whose identities are still unknown. Trump has authorized CIA operations in Venezuela.What to watch: Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) raised concerns about Congress being left in the dark on the strategy. He has asked the Foreign Relations Committee to hold oversight hearings and believed they would, he said during an Axios Future of Defense event on Wednesday."We need to learn more," said Young, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee.Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been the most outspoken GOP critic of the strikes, repeatedly and publicly slamming the moves. He sits on the Foreign Relations Committee.Zoom out: Senate Republicans heard from Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the Venezuela situation during a closed-door lunch earlier in October."Obviously, there's a threat to American lives through all the drugs that are coming into the country and and I think they have very good intelligence when it comes to the strikes that they've initiated," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Axios in an interview last week."So my sense was that, once hearing the explanation, I didn't think that anybody had any particular reservations," he added.The bottom line: Thune and others have acknowledged that any extended campaign could run into the War Powers Act, which authorizes Congress to declare war.

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