New York congressional delegation reacts

Rep. Nick LaLota was the first Long Island congressional member to respond to what President Donald Trump said was a "large-scale strike" leading to Nicolás Maduro’s arrest on charges of narco-terrorism and trafficking.

LaLota (R-Amityville) framed the operation as “a necessary step toward justice for American families devastated by Venezuelan-made and -trafficked drugs.”

The action “strengthens America’s national security in our hemisphere,” he added, and he lauded the U.S. military, law enforcement and intelligence community who carried it through. But he also cautioned that “American leaders must apply the hard lessons learned in Iraq and take deliberate steps to minimize the power vacuum risks that can follow the removal of a sinister regime.”

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) posted on the social media site X that, "Maduro is a bad actor and stopping the flow of drugs into the United States is an important goal." He added, "We must, however, comply with the law and congressional oversight."

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre), although agreeing Maduro deserved to be brought to justice, argued that Trump had the responsibility to consult with Congress “before engaging in acts of war.”

Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, said, “I look forward to receiving updates from the Trump administration on the next steps." He said that includes "learning more about its whole-of-government efforts to disrupt the operations of transnational criminal organizations and end the deadly flow of drugs into our country."

Maduro, Garbarino said, was a narcoterrorist and an “illegitimate leader” who “will rightfully stand trial for facilitating the trafficking of deadly drugs across our borders that have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Trump administration’s launching of a military action “without congressional authorization and without a credible plan for what comes next is reckless.”

Schumer underscored in a statement that Maduro is “an illegitimate dictator." But he said, “The administration has assured me three separate times that it was not pursuing regime change or taking military action in Venezuela. Clearly, they are not being straight with Americans."

The Democratic senator insisted that the Trump administration must brief Congress immediately on its objectives "and its plan to prevent a humanitarian and geopolitical disaster that plunges us into another endless war or one that trades one corrupt dictator for another." He also suggested that Trump was trying to “distract from skyrocketing costs Americans face and the historic cover up of the Epstein files."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, like other Democrats, criticized the Trump administration for failing to, in his words, “properly notify Congress” in advance of the operation. He said in a statement that “far too many questions remain unanswered.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx, Queens), asserted in a social media post on X that the operation was not about drugs, but “about oil and regime change.” She raised a wag the dog-like diversion theory, saying the administration needs a Maduro trial to distract from the focus on the Epstein matter and “skyrocketing healthcare costs.”

As recently as Dec. 17, Long Island’s members of the U.S. House had spilt along party lines in votes on two defeated War Powers resolutions that would have forced Trump to go to Congress for approval before attacking Venezuela and would have halted his campaign of striking vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

LaLota and Garbarino voted in line with most House Republicans in rejecting the efforts to rein in Trump’s actions. Gillen and Suozzi supported the resolutions.