Trump’s Blockade of Venezuela Risks an Illegal War Congress Must Stop

President Donald Trump has announced a “total and complete blockade” of U.S.-sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela—an escalation that constitutes economic warfare against an entire nation. The administration has paired this move with the reckless designation of the Venezuelan state as a “foreign terrorist organization,” while openly boasting of a U.S. naval armada encircling the country. Blockades are instruments of collective punishment. They do not distinguish between a minister and a midwife, a general and a farmer. Venezuela relies on oil exports as a lifeline for food imports, medicine, energy, and regional stability. Cutting off maritime routes deliberately inflicts harm on civilians throughout Venezuela and the wider Caribbean. History offers a clear warning. In 2019, as U.S. sanctions intensified, then–Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted that Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis was worsening “by the hour.” Civilian suffering was not an accident—it was the pressure mechanism. Today’s blockade doubles down on that same failed and morally indefensible strategy. Even more alarming is the trajectory toward a land war. Naval blockades, sanctions enforcement, and “counterterror” designations are historically used to justify escalation when coercion fails. A U.S. ground invasion of Venezuela would be catastrophic: politically, morally, and strategically. Foreign land wars consistently lose public support, cost thousands of lives, destabilize entire regions, and entangle the United States in conflicts far more complex than promised. Recent history—from Iraq to Afghanistan—makes this lesson unmistakable. Under the Constitution, only Congress has the authority to authorize war. Economic siege, naval blockades, and preparatory military deployments designed to force regime change are acts of war in all but name. If the president intends to initiate hostilities against Venezuela, he must seek explicit authorization from Congress. If he does not, Congress must act immediately to stop him. This means enforcing the War Powers Resolution, cutting off unauthorized funding, holding public hearings, and making clear that no land war, blockade, or escalation may proceed without legislative approval. Failure to act would represent an abdication of Congress’s constitutional duty. The United States must not normalize siege warfare, collective punishment, or executive war-making by fiat. Congress must assert its authority now—before economic warfare turns into another disastrous and unlawful land war.