Energy Minister Chris Wright joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss the government’s efforts to keep coal-fired power plants operational, the move to make technology companies pay for energy costs and the sale of Venezuelan oil.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on Tuesday criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for the way it is using the oil seized in Venezuela earlier this month, saying the president cannot sell the oil for “his own piggy bank.”
Massie said the oil was “stolen” and that Trump “cannot legally create a second treasury abroad for his own piggy bank.”
“Selling stolen oil and bankrolling billions of dollars in Qatar that can be spent without congressional approval is not constitutional,” Massie wrote on X. “Only Congress can appropriate money.”
RAND PAUL TELLS US IN ‘ACTIVE WAR’ WITH VENEZUELA: ‘I STILL HOPE IT WORKS FOR THE BEST’
Rep. Thomas Massie said the oil was “stolen” and that “only Congress can appropriate money.” (Getty Images / Getty Images)
“The president cannot legally create a second treasury abroad for his own piggy bank,” he continued.
The congressman added, “Wake up, Congress.”
This comes after the US operation to attack Venezuela and arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro, and the Trump administration’s subsequent seizure of oil tankers from the country.
TRUMP’S VENEZUELA OIL DEAL GETS FIRST $500M SALE UNDER NEW AGREEMENT
Venezuela is one of the largest oil producers and the oil industry has become a focus of the Trump administration.
Trump has said oil sales to the US would start immediately, with an initial shipment of about 30 million to 50 million barrels sold to the US government.
Rep. Thomas Massie said Congress needs to “wake up.” (Getty Images / Getty Images)
“This oil will be sold at market price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure that it is used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump previously wrote on Truth Social.
Administration officials announced last week that the government completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil, generating about $500 million in revenue, which is held in bank accounts controlled by the U.S. government, including one in Qatar.
The Energy Department has suggested that US sales of Venezuelan oil could continue ‘indefinitely’. The department also said it is working with “the world’s leading commodity marketers and major banks to execute these sales of crude oil and crude products and provide financial support.”
Massie has clashed repeatedly with Trump in recent months over the congressman’s opposition to large-scale federal spending, military action without congressional approval and the administration’s handling of foreign policy.
Rep. Thomas Massie said President Donald Trump cannot sell Venezuelan oil for “his own piggy bank.” (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/Getty Images)
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Trump is backing Massie’s main opponent after calling on a challenger to run, though the Kentucky Republican easily won the 2024 Republican Party primary for his district, securing 76% of the vote before running unopposed in the general election.
“President Trump has captured Venezuela’s narco-terrorist leader who poisoned the American people with deadly drugs and sent thousands of evil illegal aliens into our country,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement to The Hill. “Thomas Massie crying about it is yet another reason why the great people of Kentucky have completely lost confidence in him.”
