WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate rejected a war powers resolution to preemptively block U.S. forces from conducting military operations against Venezuela on Thursday.

The measure failed in a 49 to 51 vote.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) sponsored the resolution with support from Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

U.S. forces have recently conducted more than a dozen lethal strikes against vessels operating in the southern Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September. The Trump administration said these vessels have been operated by drug traffickers.

President Donald Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of backing drug cartels in the country, and has more recently raised the prospect of conducting lethal strikes on land-based drug trafficking targets in Venezuela.

Kaine, Schiff, and Paul questioned the legal justification for U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats operating in international waters. The three lawmakers were among those to vote in favor of an Oct. 8 war powers resolution to stop such strikes on vessels at sea. That resolution failed on a 48-51 vote.

While the previous war powers resolution failed to rein in U.S. strikes on suspected drug vessels in international waters, Kaine expressed hopes that the prospect of a direct confrontation between U.S. and Venezuelan forces would cause more Republicans to support restraint.

“Do we take seriously the most important responsibility in [Article One of the U.S. Constitution], that war should not be declared without Congress?” Kaine asked in a Senate floor speech ahead of the Thursday night vote.

Speaking against the resolution, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) praised the U.S. strikes on suspected drug vessels.

“President Trump has taken decisive action to protect thousands of Americans from lethal narcotics. He’s kept drugs off the streets, kept children alive, and eliminated narco-terrorists who have been profiting off of the deaths of members of our communities,” Risch said.

Responding to Risch’s remarks on the Senate floor, Kaine sought to separate the issue of strikes on boats in international waters from military operations inside Venezuela.