Michigan's Huizenga Leads Republicans Expressing Concern About Trump's Plans For Venezuela

Michigan Advance

January 13, 2026

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga has become one of the few Republican members of Congress pushing back on the interventions of President Donald Trump’s administration in Venezuela following the United States’ capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, which United Nations’ officials and Amnesty International say occurred in violation of international law.

The Holland Township Republican specifically expressed to NOTUS worries about the role of Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president, as the acting president of the country. Huizenga has repeatedly supported Edmundo González Urrutia, who ran against Maduro in the 2024 presidential election and was seen by many international leaders as the rightful winner of that election, as well as other Venezuelan opposition leaders like María Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.

“When are we going to get to either recognizing González or an actual free, fair election that the results will be recognized?” Huizenga told NOTUS that he had asked the administration.

In the immediate wake of Maduro’s capture, Huizenga expressed support for the mission and its outcome in a press release — adding his support for González Urrutia

“Anyone connected with Maduro should be viewed as illegitimate,” he wrote on Jan. 3. “The United States should recognize Edmundo González Urrutia, the rightful winner of the past election, as President and work with him in this time of transition until the Venezuelan people can hold a free and fair election.”

Huizenga also criticized Trump’s plans to have the United States establish control over Venezuela’s oil industry and reserves, asking in a classified briefing, according to NOTUS, what the administration’s plan to do so was, saying he had not received full or satisfactory answers to those questions.

“If they [administration officials] hadn’t thought through all the details, let’s get them talking about those kinds of details, because those details are very important with the goal and objective that those proceeds are used properly,” he said, adding that oil proceeds should “not support the Maduro leftover regime.”

In criticizing the administration, Huizenga joins a small group of Republican colleagues who have broken with the Trump administration on the intervention in Venezuela, including the five GOP U.S. senators who voted to advance a war powers resolution that would halt U.S. military action in Venezuela without congressional authorization.

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