1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for their roles in the unauthorized military strikes in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. While I oppose Maduro's authoritarian regime, the weekend military operation in Caracas represents a clear violation of constitutional limits on executive power. The President does not have unilateral authority to conduct offensive military operations against a sovereign nation without congressional authorization. Trump's characterization of the strikes as "amazing" and "brilliant tactically" at the House GOP retreat demonstrates a cavalier attitude toward the constitutional requirement for congressional approval of military action. The operation has created a dangerous precedent for executive overreach. Trump has already announced plans to exploit Venezuelan oil resources, telling reporters "we got a lot of oil to drill" and teasing a meeting with oil executives. He has named Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, Stephen Miller, and JD Vance as the team overseeing US involvement in Venezuela, effectively establishing an occupation government without congressional input. Climate experts warn this could produce an additional 550 million tons of CO2 annually if Venezuelan oil production reaches 1.5 million barrels per day, equivalent to the annual emissions of the UK or Brazil. Trump's dismissal of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who is widely believed to have won the 2024 election, in favor of working with interim president Delcy Rodríguez further demonstrates that this operation serves Trump's interests rather than democratic principles. His statement that there will be no Venezuelan election within 30 days because "we have to fix the country first" reveals imperial ambitions. I urge you to hold these officials accountable through impeachment proceedings. The Constitution requires congressional authorization for military action, and this administration has flagrantly violated that requirement.