President Donald Trump says the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

 

Using U.S. forces to take control of a merchant ship is incredibly unusual and marks the Trump administration’s latest push to increase pressure on Maduro.

 

The seizure Wednesday was led by the U.S. Coast Guard and supported by the Navy.

 

Senators on Capitol Hill responded to U.S. forces seizing the oil tanker on Thursday.

 

“I think we should enforce laws, and if we have ships that are sanctioned, they should be seized,” Sen. Pete Ricketts, (R) Nebraska, told the Associated Press.

 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, (D) Maryland, questioned the administration’s motives.

 

“Their claims that this is about going after drugs or holding people accountable for drugs is just a bunch of nonsense. It's a cover story. And what happened with the ship is an example of how that's just a cover story. The real goal here is clearly regime change in Venezuela and accomplishing regime change by force. And if that is the case, this requires obviously congressional action under the war powers resolution,” Van Hollen said.

 

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia echoed Van Hollen’s sentiments.

 

“It is an escalation and it you know, continues to demonstrate Congress needs to take this up. We haven't had a single public hearing either in foreign relations or armed services, and we shouldn't be at war without a vote of Congress,” Kaine said.