Marco Rubio And Rand Paul Spar Over Capture Of Maduro In Venezuela: 'Removed Someone Who Was Not Elected'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Republican Sen. Rand Paul sparred over the operation that ended with the capture of Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.

The encounter took place as Rubio faced the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to address the Trump administration's policy for the South American country.

Paul repeatedly asked Rubio if the U.S. would consider it an act of war if another country conducted an operation like the one that ended with Maduro's capture but took the U.S. president.

Rubio rejected the operation fit the constitutional definition of an act of war, but noted that if that scenario were to take place, the U.S. would act in accordance with its national interests.

🚨 BREAKING: Sec. Marco Rubio CLAPS BACK at Rand Paul opposing the Venezuela attacksPAUL: We violated the Constitution, removed an elected official!RUBIO: We did NOT remove an elected official! We removed an unelected, indicted DRUG TRAFFICKER! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Jr8QyL5d9Z

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 28, 2026

Elsewhere in the exchange, Paul claimed that the U.S. violated the "spirit of the law" and the Constitution for removing an elected official. Rubio quickly rejected the premise, saying "we removed someone who was not elected and was actually an indicted drug-trafficker in the United States."

In another passage of the hearing, Rubio said the Trump administration's end goal in the country is the restoration of democracy. "What's the end state? We want a Venezuela that has legitimate democratic elections," he said.

Rubio rejected giving a specific timeline for such a scenario but claimed that there has been "substantial progress" in the weeks since Maduro was captured. "We have to be, and we expect to be, much further along in six months," he said.

The secretary of state then clarified that the administration does not expect to "take military action" in Venezuela. He noted that even though the U.S. does not rule out any further strikes, such a scenario would be detrimental to the policy in the long term. "We are not postured and do not expect to take military action," he said.

The remark followed an earlier one claiming that it was ready to "use force" to ensure that the interim regime cooperates.

The hearing takes place as another report has raised doubts about whether Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, will cooperate with the Trump administration by cutting ties with adversaries such as Iran, China and Russia.

Reuters noted that demands include expelling diplomats of said countries from Venezuela, but the regime has not taken steps to do so. Intelligence reports claimed it is not clear if she is fully on board.

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