If you want Congress to restrain this president, don’t wait for Kansas
Smoke is seen over buildings after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard on Jan. 3, 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela. According to some reports, explosions were heard in Caracas and other cities near airports and military bases around 2 a.m. (Photo by Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
This week provided more proof that Congress — and our two Kansas senators — are unwilling to check the powers of President Donald Trump.
A vote in the Senate on Wednesday could have blocked Trump’s ability to conduct further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval. Since Jan. 3, the U.S. has staged a military intervention, removed the president and claimed power over the country’s oil industry.
The vote narrowly failed, 51-50.
We are looking at you, Kansas Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall.
Kansans might dispute how consequential this vote was, especially compared with other opportunities to slow down Trump. Both senators could have voted against other measures that have inched us closer to an imperial presidency. For instance, both sided with Trump during impeachment votes in his first term.
Kansans might also argue that the vote on Venezuela was less significant than congressional action on domestic policies, such as deployments of the National Guard or widespread raids by immigration officials. The Kansas senators could have stood up when Trump asserted those powers. (In fact, they still can.)
Nevertheless, the Venezuela vote is useful as a timely litmus test for Moran and Marshall, both as Republicans and surrogates for their constituents. Wednesday’s vote shows where they sit after almost one year of Trump’s second term. That is to say, on the sidelines.
To understand this, let’s inspect the conservative coalitions on this vote. Republican ranks broke down into three camps.
In the first group — let’s call them the Principled Objectors — there were three Republican senators: Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Beginning last week, they broke unexpectedly from their party to force the Venezuela roll call vote and stuck by their convictions in the face of public and private threats from Trump.
Marshall and Moran joining this group would require an extraordinary upgrade to their courage and wild swings to their ideologies. Both have long-term voting records that support the conservative cause. Perhaps it’s fantasy (or folly) to expect this level of resistance.
In the second group — let’s call them the Equivocaters — there were two Republican senators: Todd Young of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri.
How do they earn the title of the Equivocaters? After first signaling their hopes of restraining the president, both waffled back to supporting Trump by voting with fellow conservatives. In doing so, they took a position of some courage before retreating, never fully committing themselves.
We can associate them with equivocation in another way: They insisted on nothing more than weak language from the administration.
From a statement by Young: “I’ve also received a commitment that if President Trump were to determine American forces are needed in major military operations in Venezuela, the Administration will come to Congress in advance to ask for an authorization of force.”
Sounds like asking for congressional approval without actually mandating by legislation.
Hawley said his assurance came from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
If you are shaking your head at weak tea that the Equivocaters served, consider the posse that our Kansas senators joined — I call them the Compliant Coalition. Forty-eight Republican senators, including Moran and Marshall, helped Trump get his legislative wish this week with the Venezuelan vote. Vice President JD Vance was needed to break the tie.
The Compliant Coalition appeases. It cedes power. It responds to threats. It holds its tongue.
During Congressional votes. During campaigns. During election disputes. And during two Trump administrations.
Lest the coalition say that they are simply representing the will of the American people, read the polls. According to an Associated Press poll this week, 61 percent of U.S. adults disapprove of how Trump is handling foreign policy, in general. Only 35 percent believe this administration’s intervention has “been about right.”
Recent polling from Reuters shows how divided and nervous Americans are about Venezuela. Polling from Jan. 4-5 shows Americans almost perfectly split on their approval of US military action to remove the nation’s leader Nicolás Maduro: 33 percent in support, 33 percent don’t know and 34 percent disapprove.
Asked if they are concerned that the U.S. will get too involved in Venezuela, 72 percent said yes.
These seem like the exact conditions when a robust Congress — and an empowered Kansas delegation — would want a say. The country is unsure and divided. Our president is volatile and threatening, while also vague about his military intentions. And the administration is pulling a U-turn from its first term, one that kicked off with an inaugural address trumpeting the wisdom of “America First.”
If not now, if not on this issue, then when does Congress want power?
Perhaps these categories — the Principled Objectors, the Equivocators and the Compliant Coalition — are in flux. Maybe leadership will reel in the rogue Republicans. Maybe the Equivocators will develop further backbone when it comes to balance of powers.
Or maybe — just maybe — a Republican from the heartland will assert Congressional power and grab the steering wheel.
After all, we have at least three more years on this highway.
Eric Thomas teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.