Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3344 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3344

   To prohibit the unauthorized use of United States Armed Forces in 
                 hostilities with respect to Venezuela.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 4, 2025

Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Kaine, and Mr. Van Hollen) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To prohibit the unauthorized use of United States Armed Forces in 
                 hostilities with respect to Venezuela.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Prohibiting Unauthorized Military 
Action in Venezuela Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES TO CONDUCT 
              HOSTILITIES WITH RESPECT TO VENEZUELA.

    (a) Prohibition.--None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made 
available for the Department of Defense, or for any other department or 
agency of the United States Government, may be used to conduct 
hostilities with respect to Venezuela, except--
            (1) pursuant to a specific statutory authorization enacted 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act; or
            (2) pursuant to a congressional authorization consistent 
        with section 2(c) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 
        1541(c)).
    (b) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to prevent the United States from--
            (1) acting to defend itself or its citizens from an armed 
        attack or the threat of an imminent armed attack;
            (2) acting to defend the United States Armed Forces or 
        United States personnel from an armed attack;
            (3) conducting lawful counternarcotics operations that do 
        not constitute hostilities; or
            (4) providing humanitarian assistance to the people of 
        Venezuela.
    (c) Hostilities Defined.--In this section, the term ``hostilities'' 
means any situation involving any use of lethal or potentially lethal 
force by United States forces, whether such force is deployed remotely 
and irrespective of the intermittency thereof.
    (d) Relation to the War Powers Resolution.--Nothing in this section 
supersedes any requirement of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 
et seq.).
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