THE US Senate agreed to advance a resolution to curb Donald Trump’s military action against Venezuela without congressional authorisation.

The largely procedural vote was carried by 52 votes to 47 on Thursday with several members of President Trump’s Republican Party breaking ranks to join every Senate Democrat in supporting the resolution.

If it were to be agreed the resolution would require President Trump to remove US armed forces from any imminent engagement in hostilities “within or against Venezuela” without further approval from Congress.

In a social media post, Dylan Williams, vice-president for government affairs at the Centre for International Policy, called the move “a major rebuke” to President Trump.

Cavan Kharrazian, senior policy director for the Demand Progress advocacy group, called the vote “a rare ray of good news for the nation and our Constitution.”

The resolution now goes for a full debate of the Senate. It requires the support of both houses of Congress before reaching President Trump’s desk. He would then likely veto the resolution.

Overriding the president’s veto would require a highly unlikely two-thirds support from both Republican-controlled Houses. 

But there is little doubt that Thursday’s vote was highly significant and revealed a growing discontent over Saturday’s illegal attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as well as President Trump’s threats to again attack Venezuela and other countries in the region.

Meanwhile, Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez reportedly ordered the arrest of Major General Javier Marcano Tabata, head of the Presidential Honour Guard and director of the General Directorate of Military Counter intelligence on Thursday.

General Tabata has been directly linked to the US operation for having disabled air-defence protocols on Saturday night at the Fuerte Tiuna barracks, where President Maduro and his wife were sleeping and from which they were seized by US special forces.