Senator Rand Paul Backs Effort to Block Military Strikes on Drug Boats

S Senator Rand Paul said he plans to cosponsor a measure that would prevent the Trump administration from conducting military strikes against suspected drug boats, adding to his condemnation of recent deadly attacks on alleged narco-traffickers in the Caribbean.

“We can’t have a policy where we just blow up ships where we don’t even know the people’s names,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s Balance of Power on Tuesday. “It can’t be the policy for drug interdiction, either in the country or outside the country.”

Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said that past Coast Guard interdictions have failed to turn up drugs about a quarter of the time. “So they have made an error, but they don’t kill them. But we’ve blown up four boats now, and if the percentages hold true, did one of those four boats not have drug dealers on it?” he said.

With that in mind, Paul said he’ll cosponsor a resolution invoking the 1973 War Powers Act to send a message that the White House shouldn’t launch such strikes without congressional approval. Paul has voiced similar opposition in the past, including after President Donald Trump ordered strikes against Iran’s nuclear program.

Senate Democrats have sought to force a floor vote on a war-powers resolution covering drug cartels and gangs that the Trump administration has designated as foreign terrorist organizations. The Senate could vote as soon as this week

Asked if other Republicans will support the move, Paul said “there will be people quietly who will say it’s the right thing to do and will respect me for doing the right thing.”

“I think most will be afraid of the response from the White House,” he said.

President Donald Trump has called off US diplomatic engagement with Venezuela, people familiar with the move said, a decision that favors Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s more hardline approach and may lead to further military escalation.

Trump told Richard Grenell, a long-time aide who had been leading diplomacy with Venezuela, that he should stop pursuing a deal with Nicolas Maduro’s administration, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Grenell had been speaking to Venezuelan officials every few days.

The decision was reported earlier by the New York Times. It marks a victory for Rubio, who had waged a turf war with Grenell and favors a more hardline approach to the Maduro government. The White House and State Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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