Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., warned Sunday that President Donald Trump's fast-expanding military buildup around Venezuela is draining U.S. firepower from the Middle East and other hotspots.
She accused the White House of an unfocused campaign against Nicolás Maduro that could leave American forces less prepared for crises elsewhere.
On CBS' "Face the Nation," Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she was not convinced the administration has a clear strategy for its stepped-up strikes on suspected drug boats linked to Venezuela or for the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to the Caribbean.
"I don't think it's clear what the end game is for this administration with respect to Venezuela," she said.
Shaheen said the War Department has shared with lawmakers, but not the public, a Justice Department opinion that underpins the legality of the boat strikes.
She argued that escalating toward possible land operations "through special operations" risks U.S. troops and stretches limited naval resources.
"We have so much firepower now in the Caribbean, the Gerald R. Ford has been taken from the Red Sea," she said, adding that "we don't have what we need, I think, in the Indo-Pacific or in Europe."
Her comments came as the Ford strike group, the world's largest aircraft carrier and accompanying warships, moved into the Latin America region.
Pentagon officials describd as a mission to "disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle transnational criminal organizations," according to Reuters.
Reuters and other outlets report that the deployment adds to an already significant U.S. naval presence in the Caribbean assembled since late summer as part of an operation targeting drug cartels tied to Venezuela and neighboring countries.
Shaheen's sharpest language targeted Trump's reported willingness to consider land strikes in or around Venezuela, an option some Republicans have publicly floated.
"What the president has done here is to put at risk other parts of the world and Americans in other parts of the world for this fascination on trying to get rid of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela," she said. "He's been involved in illegal drugs, but he is not a threat to the United States of America."
Her stance places her at odds with the administration's framing of Maduro as a direct national security risk.
Trump's Justice Department has charged Maduro and more than a dozen current and former Venezuelan officials with narcoterrorism and cocaine trafficking, alleging they worked with Colombian guerrillas to "flood" the United States with drugs.
In August, Attorney General Pam Bondi doubled the U.S. reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest to $50 million, calling him "one of the world's largest narcotraffickers" and "a threat to our national security."
At the same time, Trump has signaled he is open to diplomacy even as U.S. firepower crowds Venezuela's northern coastline.
The Associated Press reported that the president said the United States "may have discussions with Maduro" as the Ford arrived in the Caribbean.
Trump told reporters, "They would like to talk," referring to the Venezuelan government.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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