[Photo Credit: Reuters]

U.S. lawmakers who have tried repeatedly to rein in President Donald Trump’s aggression against Venezuela said on Tuesday they would file a new resolution to force a congressional vote on the issue if the administration carries out a strike within the country.

Three House of Representatives lawmakers – Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Joaquin Castro of Texas, and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky – filed their own resolution on Tuesday that also would block the Trump administration from engaging in hostilities within or against Venezuela without congressional authorization.

U.S. troops have carried out at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since early September, killing at least 83 people as Trump escalates a military buildup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

The Trump administration has been weighing options to combat what it says is Maduro’s role in the supply of illegal drugs that have killed Americans. The socialist Venezuelan president has denied having any links to the illegal drug trade.

Members of Congress have long accused presidents from both parties of seeking to sidestep the Constitution’s requirement that Congress, not the president, approve anything other than brief military action. On Venezuela, Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans say they are worried that Trump has conducted a three-month-long military campaign without congressional authorization.

Lawmakers from both parties have also expressed alarm in recent days over a Washington Post report that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on September 2 ordered troops to fire for a second time on a boat to kill survivors of a first strike, which could violate international law.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Hegseth had authorized Admiral Frank Bradley to conduct the strikes on September 2.

She said the strikes were conducted to protect U.S. interests, took place in international waters and were in line with the law of armed conflict.

Hegseth said at the White House on Tuesday that he had seen the first strike that day and then stepped away, only learning “a couple of hours later” that Bradley had ordered the second. He said Bradley had “complete authority” to do the second strike and that “he made the correct decision to sink the boat and eliminated the threat.”

A few lawmakers have tried, and failed, repeatedly to force Trump to obtain Congress’ approval of the campaign against Venezuela.

Trump’s Republicans in the Senate blocked a resolution in November that would have prevented him from attacking Venezuelan territory without congressional authorization. In October, Senate Republicans blocked a resolution that would have stopped the boat strikes.

Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.