When President Barack Obama ordered U.S. planes into the skies of Libya and Navy ships to blockade its coast, he did so without authorization from Congress. The result was the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Libya’s descent into a decade of chaos.
While 70 House Democrats joined with Republicans to defeat an authorization bill in a 123-295 vote, one prominent Democrat was a “no comment” on the president toppling a foreign leader without congressional action.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
Today, Shaheen and the rest of New Hampshire’s federal delegation, who remained silent during unilateral U.S. military strikes ordered by Presidents Obama and Joe Biden, are now condemning President Donald Trump’s action in Venezuela.
The criticism follows Trump’s decision to send in both federal law enforcement and the Delta Force to Caracas to arrest President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Members of New Hampshire’s all-Democratic congressional delegation pounced. While they praised the military’s “exceptional” performance, as Rep. Maggie Goodlander called it Monday, they also denounced Trump’s actions.
“The president’s address to the nation about the large-scale military action he unilaterally ordered on Venezuela without congressional authorization or a credible explanation leaves the American people with more concerns and questions than answers,” Goodlander said in a statement.
Goodlander was first among the Granite State delegation to denounce the attacks. She also helped introduce legislation that would limit the Trump administration’s ability to spend federal funds on military action in Venezuela without congressional authorization — legislation that echoes the failed authorization Obama ignored in 2011.
Goodlander has also joined a group of military veterans serving in Congress who released a video urging active-duty military to refuse to obey unlawful orders. Asked by WGIR radio host Chris Ryan on Monday if the Delta Force soldiers who participated in the raid broke the law, Goodlander dodged the question.
Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH01), who is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Shaheen, echoed his fellow Democrats’ critiques of Trump’s actions.
“President Maduro was a repressive dictator,” Pappas said. “However, a military operation of this kind done without congressional approval sets a dangerous precedent.”
However, when a bipartisan group of House members, led by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), sent a letter to President Joe Biden in 2024 questioning the legality of the air strikes he ordered against Houthi forces in Yemen, Pappas declined to sign on.
Similarly, neither Shaheen nor Sen. Maggie Hassan objected to Biden’s offensive military actions during the Democratic president’s tenure. But both have criticized Trump’s moved, which resulted in Maduro and his wife standing before a federal judge in New York City on Monday.
The issue has spilled into New Hampshire’s campaign politics, with Democratic candidates condemning the strikes while Republicans praised the operation.
Former Sen. John Sununu, who’s seeking the GOP U.S. Senate nomination this fall, applauded the administration’s actions, calling Maduro a “corrupt, illegitimate dictator” whose capture would make the Western Hemisphere safer.
Former Sen. Scott Brown, who’s also running in the GOP Senate primary, also supported Trump’s actions. “The seizure of brutal dictator Nicolás Maduro marks a turning point for justice, accountability, and freedom. A proxy for China and Iran, his regime spread death and destruction,” Brown posted.
The Trump administration has argued the Venezuela operation was part of a broader campaign targeting international drug trafficking networks linked to Maduro. In November, the State Department designated the Cartel of the Suns, an organization tied to senior Venezuelan officials, as a foreign terrorist organization.
The New Hampshire Democrats hoping to replace Pappas in the U.S. House oppose Trump’s actions.
“America is not safer today as a result, and instead, at risk because Venezuela is in chaos, inflamed by the Trump Administration,” Stefany Shaheen posted on X.
Progressive candidate Christian Urrutia released a statement declaring, “This intervention is about oil. We do not need a petro-vassal state so powerful interests can make billions while working people pay the price. That is not who we are.”
Another NH-01 Democratic candidate, state Rep. Heath Howard (D-Strafford), released a statement denouncing the Trump administration’s “attacks on the people of Venezuela and the abduction of Nicolas Maduro.”
And Sarah Chadzynski, who’s also in the primary race, posted, “Bombing a nation’s capital, capturing a sitting president, & seizing a government crosses a red line. I am horrified but not surprised by this decision. Venezuela does not pose a threat to the U.S., and yet, we’ve escalated to extreme violence – done in OUR name.”
