Jack Reed: “This is absolutely critical, and the Chair has raised a number of important issues.”

President Trump has been explicit about his desire to extract Venezuela's oil," Reed said in a statement.

His administration removed Nicolás Maduro from power, threw its weight behind the unelected leadership that replaced Maduro, and is now attempting to use U.S. military assets and taxpayer-backed financing to boost a private oil venture.

When President Trump cuts military exercises to flatter a dictator or punishes South Korea for declining to join a war he started, all of our allies – and adversaries – think that America’s commitments are negotiable.

President Trump’s effort to turn the U.S. military into an investor in Venezuelan oil is a blatant abuse of power and taxpayer dollars.