Rapid City, SD – Demonstrations continue to unfold around the country following United States military action in Venezuela. A South Dakota expert weighs on the legality of what happened as the public tries to process it all.
Rapid City is among those that saw protests after the Trump administration announced military strikes and the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on narco-terrorism charges. The White House has cited drugs flowing into the United States. But critics say it’s more about oil and that the president should have sought Congressional approval.
Tyler Moore, an associate professor of law at the University of South Dakota, said there’s a consistent viewpoint in constitutional circles regarding military directives from the executive branch.
“I think the consensus view is that the president has lots of power to exercise the military in ways that stop short of putting us in a state of war with another country,” he said.
But Moore said it’s reasonable to suggest this particular action enters deep into a gray area because a head of state was forcibly removed. President Donald Trump has also stated the United States will run Venezuela for the time being. Moore doesn’t expect the courts to provide any final clarity. He said voters upset about what happen can make their voice heard at the ballot box in the upcoming midterms, if they think their Congressional representative didn’t do enough to respond.
Moore said past presidents – both Republican and Democrat – have tested the limits in approving military action without the consent of Congress. He said more recently, they haven’t encountered a whole lot of resistance.
“Congress has kind of said, like, ‘OK, I guess we’re gonna, you know, not push back that strongly.’ And to some extent that’s kind of encouraged executives to kind of go further and further,” he said.
In Congress, Republicans have largely praised the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela, with Democrats condemning them as illegal. Most public polls emerging this week indicate Americans are split on the issue. In a YouGov survey, 36% of respondents consider the United States to be at war with Venezuela, while 35% don’t see it that way.
