1. United States
2. Ala.
3. Letter

As your constituent, I am writing to demand that you immediately reconvene and assert your Congressional authority over war and peace in response to President Trump’s escalating and unauthorized military operations in Venezuela. Today, the Trump administration publicly asserted that it has taken custody of Venezuela’s sitting president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife following what it described as a large-scale military operation. The forcible seizure of a foreign head of state by U.S. forces constitutes an unauthorized use of force and an act of war under international law. No president has the authority to abduct a foreign leader, conduct regime-change operations, or initiate hostilities without explicit authorization from Congress. None of these actions were preceded by a declaration of war or a specific Authorization for Use of Military Force. They violate Article I of the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution, which exists precisely to prevent presidents from dragging the nation into war through secrecy, impulse, or distraction. President Trump was elected after promising to end America’s involvement in foreign wars and pursue an “America First” foreign policy rooted in restraint. Instead, over this first year of his presidency, his administration has recklessly launched or threatened numerous military actions across multiple regions—without congressional authorization, without transparency, and without a coherent strategy. This is not a collection of isolated incidents. It is a pattern of reckless and undisciplined warmongering that places U.S. service members in immediate danger. Even limited military operations involve grave risk; those risks multiply when missiles are fired, aircraft fly combat missions, and adversaries are provoked into retaliation. If the United States has seized Venezuela’s president—or even appears to have done so—every American soldier, sailor, pilot, and diplomat in the region becomes a potential target. Congress cannot abdicate its responsibilities. I urge you to: 1. Demand immediate public explanations and classified briefings from the White House and Department of Defense on all recent and ongoing military actions. 2. Convene oversight hearings to examine legal justification, civilian harm, strategic objectives, and escalation risks related to operations in Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, and the broader region. 3. Invoke the War Powers Resolution to require the immediate cessation of hostilities absent explicit congressional authorization. 4. Use Congress’s power of the purse to block funding for any unauthorized military action. 5. If hearings establish that the president has willfully violated the Constitution or federal law, initiate impeachment proceedings as required by your oath of office. No president may wage war by decree or seize foreign leaders under cover of chaos. Congress must defend the Constitution, protect U.S. service members, and stop this dangerous slide into permanent, unauthorized war. I expect you to do your sworn duty and uphold your oath to the Constitution and hold the President and the executive branch by restraining the President's unconstitutional and unwise military operations in Venezuela.