Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday spoke out about the stunning US strike on Venezuela, saying the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was illegal.
“Maduro is a terrible, terrible person, but you can’t deal with lawlessness with another lawlessness, and that’s what happened here,” Schumer told “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos. “There’s no authority… They didn’t just do it with ships out of the water. They went inside Venezuela and bombed both civilian and military places, and to do what they did without getting permission from Congress is a violation of the law.”
Despite President Donald Trump’s claims on Saturday that the United States would “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can make a safe, sound, and wise transition,” the Democratic senator told Stephanopoulos that “no one knows” who is actually running Venezuela right now.
“The American people this morning, George, are scratching their heads in wonder and fear at what the president has proposed,” Schumer said. “We have learned over the years that when America tries to change the regime and build the nation in this way, the American people pay the price in blood and dollars.”
Schumer expressed doubt about the ability of US oil companies to repair Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, a claim made by Trump after the strike.
“It seems like an informal process, at least from what they’ve told people,” Schumer said. “These oil fields have been in poor condition for years. We have no idea how long it will take, how much it will cost, and whether we will need military forces to guard the oil fields while we do this.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks with ABC News during an appearance on This Week, January 4, 2026.
ABC News
Schumer also criticized Trump’s involvement in Venezuela after his repeated campaign promise to avoid foreign conflicts.
He added: “The American people are concerned that this is creating an endless war. The same thing that Donald Trump campaigned against over and over again is no longer endless wars. Now, we are heading straight to war, without barriers, without discussion.”
Trump’s announcement comes in the wake of the night mission in which a US military extraction team, supported by more than 150 military aircraft, made its way to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and arrived at the compound where Maduro and his wife were staying. The team then brought the couple to the warship USS Iwo Jima before transporting them to New York City where Maduro faces terrorism and drug trafficking charges.
Here are more highlights from Schumer’s interview.
Obamacare insurance premiums have expired
“We passed legislation to renew them for three years, and Republicans have blocked it in every way. They’re a mess. They’re a mess.” [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune said he would not renew it. [House Speaker Mike] Johnson said they wouldn’t do it…so it’s the Republicans [who] He screwed this up. “If they can find a way out of this mess, we want to work with anyone to bring prices down.”
If there will be another government shutdown
“No. There are two separate tracks here. Democrats want to fund appropriations, spending bills all the way through 2026. We want to work in a bicameral, bipartisan way to do that. The good news is that our Republican appropriations are working with us, and we’re making good progress on that.”
