Sen. Josh Hawley has revealed why he changed his vote on a controversial war powers resolution bill after threats and personal insults from Donald Trump.
The Missouri senator was one of five rogue Republicans who voted alongside Democrats last week for a bill designed to prevent Trump ordering further attacks on Venezuela without prior approval from Congress.
On Wednesday, however, Hawley and fellow Republican Todd Young of Indiana dramatically flipped to kill the bill.
A furious Trump had ranted at the five GOP senators—including Hawley and Young—who voted against him when the bill was first introduced, blasting them for their “stupidity.”
“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America,” the 79-year-old said on Truth Social last week before saying the five “should never be elected to office again.”
Trump declared the vote against him violated the Constitution and “greatly hampers” U.S. defense and national security.
Speaking on The Will Cain Show on Fox News on Wednesday, Hawley defended his U-turn, saying he had since found out there were no U.S. troops remaining in Venezuela after they captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during a raid on Jan. 3.
The late-night raid happened without Congress being informed in advance—although Trump said he had been discussing his plans with major U.S. oil companies.
“For me, this has always been about ground troops,” said Hawley, who was once considered one of the most MAGA of Republican senators, but now regularly sides with Democrats. “Ground troops into Venezuela, occupying Venezuela. That’s not something that I think I would want to do.”
Hawley said he spoke to Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the Department of Justice before changing his vote.
He added, “I thank the administration for all of their outreach, and what the secretary of state said to me very clearly is, ‘We’re not doing that. We don’t have ground troops in Venezuela. This is not another Iraq. We’re not gonna occupy Venezuela’. And you know what? That’s good enough for me.”
Despite also being called out by name by Trump, three GOP senators—Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—continued to vote alongside Democrats on Wednesday.
Young also flipped his vote, and stuck to the same MAGA playbook as Hawley after being assured by Rubio that no U.S. ground troops remain in Venezuela.
The Indiana senator said he supported Trump’s decision to bring Maduro to justice, but that he was “deeply skeptical” about sending U.S. troops to “stabilize Venezuela.
“I strongly believe any commitment of U.S. forces in Venezuela must be subject to debate and authorization in Congress,” Young posted in a statement on X.
“I’ve also received a commitment that if President Trump were to determine American forces are needed in major military operations in Venezuela, the Administration will come to Congress in advance to ask for an authorization of force.”
He added that Rubio will testify in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the U.S. military action in Venezuela later this month.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Paul said it was “an absurdity” to believe that Trump had not already conducted actions of war in Venezuela.
“If we don’t know it’s a war until after all the people die... wouldn’t it then be a little late?” he said.
