Newark, N.J. – New Jersey’s top Democrats denounced President Donald Trump’s surprise military strike and arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, calling the operation unconstitutional and a reckless act of regime change. Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, Senator Cory Booker, and Senator Andy Kim each issued statements condemning what they described as an unauthorized use of force that threatens to pull the United States into a prolonged foreign conflict.
In a statement this wekend, Sherrill criticized the president for bypassing Congress before ordering the strike that captured Maduro, who had been under federal indictment in New York for decades of cocaine trafficking into the United States.
“The President made a unilateral decision to strike Venezuela and take over the government,” Sherrill said. “His failure to gain congressional authorization or to enunciate a strategy risks entering into yet another long-term conflict that fails to deliver on our goals and is contrary to our interests and values.” She urged Congress to “step up, assert its authority, and prevent further illegal action.”
Booker, who joined the chorus of condemnation Friday morning, framed Trump’s move as part of a broader pattern of constitutional disregard. “What happened today is wrong,” Booker said, accusing the Republican-controlled Congress of allowing the president to act with “dangerous growing impunity.” He warned that the latest strike underscored a collapse of checks and balances, saying, “Time and again, the president has exceeded his authority, defied congressional intent, trampled the separation of powers, and broken the law—while Congress looked away in cowardice and submission.”
Kim, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, blasted administration officials for misleading lawmakers. “Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change,” Kim said. “I didn’t trust them then, and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress.” He added that the strike “puts Americans at risk in Venezuela and the region” and damages U.S. credibility abroad.
The Department of Justice confirmed that Maduro was taken into custody in Caracas and transported to a secure U.S. facility following a “targeted extraction” operation coordinated with the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Special Operations Command. A sealed superseding indictment unsealed in federal court outlines more than two decades of cocaine trafficking, money laundering, and narco-terrorism charges tied to Maduro and senior members of his regime. The filing accuses him of partnering with Colombian rebel groups and Mexican cartels to ship “thousands of tons of cocaine” into the United States while using his political power to shield traffickers and enrich family members.
Administration officials have defended the strike as a lawful enforcement action against an indicted transnational criminal, not a war. In a brief statement, a White House spokesperson said the president acted “to protect the American people from one of the world’s most violent narco-terrorist networks” and that “Maduro’s capture represents a historic victory against decades of corruption and drug trafficking.”
Still, critics argue the president crossed constitutional lines by ordering military force without congressional approval. Lawmakers from both parties are demanding classified briefings on the decision process and its implications for U.S. foreign policy.
Maduro, 63, was Venezuela’s disputed president since 2013, retaining power despite multiple contested elections and international condemnation. The United States had recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president in 2019, but Maduro maintained control of the military and key state institutions until this week’s strike removed him from power.
The fallout from the operation is already reverberating across Latin America, with regional governments expressing alarm over what several leaders called “a dangerous precedent” for foreign intervention.
Trump has not publicly commented beyond a brief post declaring “justice served.”
