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Democratic lawmaker decries strikes on Venezuelan boats as ‘illegal killings’

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Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) on Sunday characterized a string of U.S. strikes on Venezuelan boats in international waters as “illegal killings,” saying the White House has not yet shared their legal justification for the attacks with congressional lawmakers.

“They are illegal killings because the notion that the United States — and this is what the administration says is their justification — is involved in an armed conflict with any drug dealers, any Venezuelan drug dealers, is ludicrous,” Himes told host Margaret Brennan in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “It wouldn’t stand up in a single court of law.”

The U.S. has carried out at least four strikes on Venezuelan boats in the past month, which the Trump administration has characterized as a campaign to target “narcoterrorists” that they say are responsible for smuggling drugs into the country. Lawmakers and former security officials have continued to sound alarm at the strikes, saying it blurs the line between crime and war.

Himes — the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee — said aside from a White House memo informing lawmakers about the strikes, members of Congress had not been briefed on a list of outstanding questions — like who was aboard the boats, how they were identified as a threat and what the extent of U.S. intelligence was before carrying out the strikes.

Trump sent Congress a formal notification in compliance with the War Powers Resolution of 1973 two days after the first strike in September, saying the boat “was assessed to be affiliated with a designated terrorist organization.”

“Congress is being told nothing on this,” he said. “And that’s OK, apparently, with the Republican majorities in the House and the Senate. It’s not OK with me.”

Himes continued, calling the White House’s legal justifications “laughable,” and saying the administration designating an entity as a terrorist does not automatically give it the authority to carry out a lethal strike.

“My Republican friends are saying, ‘But these are terrible people doing terrible things,'” he said. “OK, I don’t disagree with you on that, but are we now in the business of killing people who are doing bad things without authority?”

Himes signed onto a letter with other Democratic House leaders in September decrying the first strike as a “dangerous expansion and abuse of presidential authority.”

“The lack of transparency and information sharing with Congress, which has the constitutional responsibility to declare war and authorize or limit the use of force, poses an even greater threat to our democratic system of government,” they wrote.

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Congress

Collins meets the Problem Solvers

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Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins joined the House Problem Solvers Caucus lunch Thursday to talk about the stalled Homeland Security funding effort and proposals to overhaul federal immigration enforcement activities.

“I think everyone is pretty frustrated at this point,” the Maine Republican said in an interview after the bipartisan meeting.

The centrist group, which extended the invitation to Collins, talked through the pain points on finding a path out of the DHS shutdown that has stretched more than 40 days and is triggering massive air travel disruptions. The conversation comes ahead of a House vote later Thursday on funding DHS, where moderates are looking to break the impasse.

Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney and Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.

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Congress

Brian Fitzpatrick delivers a warning on GOP reconciliation redo

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As House Republicans start to dream big about another party-line bill, one key member who voted down the last GOP reconciliation bill is warning his colleagues not to count on his support.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) referenced his vote last summer against the “big, beautiful bill” in an interview Thursday and suggested he was prepared to oppose another GOP-only bill if it, too, includes spending cuts he opposes to social programs.

“You saw what I did on the first reconciliation bill,” Fitzpatrick said. Fitzpatrick and just one more House Republican could be enough to tank a party-line package given Speaker Mike Johnson’s slim majority.

Still, many of Fitzpatrick’s colleagues are making plans for an expansive new GOP-only bill that would include more money for Homeland Security operations, Iran war funding and other cost-of-living priorities, while demanding it be fully offset with spending cuts — possibly from social programs targeted for “fraud prevention.”

“You never say ‘never’ at anything, but I’m never a fan of single-party bills,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s just my approach to government.”

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Congress

Joe Wilson hospitalized

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Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) was hospitalized after falling in his home on Wednesday evening.

Wilson’s office said on Thursday that the 78-year-old is fine and working remotely.

“Last evening, Congressman Wilson slipped in the bathroom of his residence in Washington and cut his head,” David Snider, a spokesperson for Wilson, said in a statement. “He received stitches, is fine, and working remotely.”

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