Congress reasserts war power: blocks military spending on Venezuela without authorization
H.R. 6915 — To prohibit the use of funds to use military force in or against Venezuela, and for other purposes. · Filed by Seth Moulton (D-MA) · 32 cosponsors · Introduced Dec 19, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill blocks the federal government from spending money on military action against Venezuela until December 31, 2026, unless Congress first declares war or passes a new law specifically authorizing it. The ban does not apply to military actions that comply with the War Powers Resolution's emergency provisions (which allow the President to act for up to 60 days in response to imminent threats). The bill is sponsored by 16 House Democrats and has 32 cosponsors.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a spending prohibition on military force against a named country, conditioned on congressional authorization. It is a straightforward legislative check on executive war-making power, not a substantive foreign-policy statement but a procedural guardrail.
What the text implies
- The exception for War Powers Resolution section 2(c) compliance preserves the President's ability to conduct military operations for up to 60 days in response to imminent threats without prior congressional approval, creating a narrow window for unilateral action.
- The bill's December 31, 2026 sunset means the prohibition expires automatically; any military action after that date would not be constrained by this law unless Congress renews it.
- The bill does not restrict intelligence operations, covert actions, or non-military forms of intervention (sanctions, diplomatic pressure, support for opposition groups) — only overt military force funded through appropriations.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill reinforces Congress's constitutional war power and prevents unilateral executive military action without legislative authorization, preserving democratic accountability over decisions to deploy U.S. military force. Citizens retain the right to have their elected representatives vote on military commitments rather than having the President act alone.
Named in the bill
U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on Armed Services, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, War Powers Resolution
Where it stands
32 cosponsors: 32 Democrats.
- Dec 19, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Dec 19, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Armed Services and House Committee on Foreign Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Mar 2026. Those filings disclosed $2,000,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 45 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Seth Moulton, the sponsor, reported $233,599 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Friends Committee on National Legislation — $2,000,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jun 15, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,858 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Mar 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jun 15, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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