People protest outside Manhattan Federal Court before the arraignment of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Nine House Democrats are wasting no time opposing President Donald Trump’s seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

A co-sponsorship memorandum was introduced Saturday by Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El, D-Lancaster, with Democratic Party co-sponsors Nikki Rivera, Tarik Khan, Heather Boyd, Tarah Probst, Arvind Venkat, Lisa Borowski, Tim Brennan and Paul Friel.

“President Trump’s recent unilateral military actions against Venezuela, including large-scale strikes and the capture of Venezuela’s head of state, were undertaken without congressional authorization,” Smith-Wade-El said in his co-sponsorship memorandum. “The power to authorize war belongs to Congress, not the president acting alone. The U.S. Constitution is clear that acts of war require approval by the legislative branch, except in cases of immediate self-defense. The president did not seek, and Congress did not grant, such authorization.”

The resolution – even if it is passed by the state Senate – carries no legal weight. The state House Democrats’ opposition is similar to arguments made by Democrats around the country. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., rejected the administration’s argument that it was combating drug crimes, saying on X that the White House is instead focused on “oil and regime change” while seeking to “to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs.” Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the strike was part of an “old and obvious pattern” where an “unpopular president — failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home — decides to launch a war for regime change abroad.”

Rubio and other top Trump administration officials will be discussing the Venezuela situation Monday evening with House and Senate leadership of the “gang of eight,” which includes top members of the Intelligence committees. The chairmen and ranking leaders of the other national security committees are also invited.

The Democratic leaders in Congress, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, had publicly called for the briefing after leadership was largely kept in the dark about the surprise weekend operation capturing Maduro — despite Congress’s role in approving or rejecting certain military actions.

A war powers resolution that would prohibit further US military involvement in Venezuela without congressional approval is headed toward a vote this week in the Senate.

The Pennsylvania Democrats, for their part, are focusing on the lack of Congressional approval of both Maduro’s seizure and the attacks on what the Trump administration has said are boats carrying drugs.

“Military action undertaken without democratic debate, legal authority, or accountability has historically resulted in regional instability, civilian harm, and long-term damage to U.S. credibility,” Smith-Wade-El wrote. “Recent U.S. military strikes on boats in the Caribbean, for example, have killed people who posed no immediate threat to the United States, including survivors of earlier attacks. This shows why decisions about war should involve Congress and not be made by a president acting alone. Congress must reassert its authority and uphold one of America’s founding principles; namely, that the power to declare war is held by the people’s representatives, not the executive branch. We are gravely concerned with the cost to human life, our moral standing as a nation, and our economic futures, all leveraged in favor of violating the sovereignty of a foreign nation as an apparent pretense for seeking control of its natural resources.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.