Republican Sen. Rand Paul again slammed the Trump administration over its escalating campaign against the Venezuelan regime, saying its "pretending we are 'at war'" to "justify blowing up boats all without a vote, without transparency and without answering to Congress."
"If it's war, declare it. If it's not, stop acting like it is," Paul said in a social media publication that included an appearance on CBS News' Face the Nation.
The Admin is pretending we’re “at war” with Venezuela to justify blowing up boats all without a vote, without transparency, and without answering to Congress. If it’s war, declare it. If it’s not, stop acting like it is. pic.twitter.com/ATntKrnvpr
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) November 24, 2025
Paul has repeatedly criticized the administration's campaign, in which officials are also showing their intent to remove authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro from power.
Last week he criticized the continued strikes against allege drug vessels in the region, claiming it is unclear they are in fact carrying narcotics and the error rate is high.
Speaking to outlet Reason, Paul said that "when the Coast Guard boards vessels, 1 in 4 do not have drugs on board." "The error rate is about 25%. It is hard to imagine that civilized people would tolerate blowing up people if the error rate was 1 in 4."
The administration, however, is moving forward. On Monday, a NewsNation journalist claimed that the U.S.Southern Command (Southcom) is restricting leave over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in preparation for potential land strikes in the coming days. Kellie Meyer cited a source who noted that the possible land strikes could take place "in the next 10 days to two weeks."
The development comes on the same day in which the U.S. officially designated the Cartel de los Soles, which the U.S. accuses Maduro and other top officials of leading, as a terrorist organization.
The regime rejected the move, calling it a "new and ridiculous lie from Secretary of State Marco Rubio," claiming that it is an "infamous a vile lie to justify an illegitimate and illegal intervention against Venezuela under the classic U.S. format of regime change."
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