WASHINGTON — The Senate was voting Wednesday on legislation to put a check on President Donald Trump's ability to use deadly military force against drug cartels, as Democrats and at least one Republican tried to counter the administration's extraordinary assertion of presidential war power to destroy vessels in the Caribbean.

It was the first vote in Congress on Trump's military campaign that has so far has destroyed four vessels in the Caribbean, killed at least 21 people and stopped narcotics from reaching the U.S., according to the White House. The war powers resolution would require the president to seek authorization from Congress before further military strikes on the cartels.

The Trump administration has asserted that drug traffickers are armed combatants threatening the United St

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