The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee said late Saturday they are seeking “full accounting” of an early September U.S. military attack against an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean after a report alleged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered U.S. troops to “kill everybody” aboard the vessel.
“This committee is committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) military operations in the Caribbean,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chair of the House committee, and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the panel, said in a joint statement.
“We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question,” the duo stated.
The Hill has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
The administration said the Sept. 2 attack killed 11 people whom Trump officials called “narco-terrorists” in the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) area of responsibility. The boat departed Venezuela and President Trump said the vessel was carrying members of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational gang that is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
On Friday, The Washington Post reported that the first strike on Sept. 2 on the boat left two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage and that the Special Operations commander, who was in charge of the military operation, ordered a second attack to comply with Hegseth’s order.
Hegseth fired back against the report later on Friday, calling it “fake news” and insisting that the U.S. military’s strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats, which have taken place in both the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, are “lawful.”
The report prompted Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) to issue a joint statement, saying the Senate Armed Services Committee has “directed inquires to the Department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to the circumstances.”
Since early September, the U.S. military has conducted 21 strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, killing at least 83 people the administration has deemed “narco-terrorists.”
The lethal strikes have prompted pushback from Democrats and some Republicans, who have questioned the legality of the operations and asked the administration for more information about the way the U.S. military is identifying targets on the speed boats. The administration says it has provided 14 bipartisan briefings to lawmakers, but the DOD has at times declined to make available during the briefings attorneys who could present the legal justification for the attacks.
The administration has argued it does not need congressional approval for the ongoing strikes as the military operations do not rise to the level of “hostilities” that would warrant authorization from Congress.
Trump indicated on Thursday that the strikes against alleged drug traffickers could soon take place on land.
At the same time, the U.S. has beefed up its military presence in the Southcom area in recent weeks, deploying at least a dozen warships, F-35 fighter jets, spy planes and Marines as the Trump administration has turned up the pressure against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom U.S. officials have called an “illegitimate leader.”
The U.S. government has designated the so-called Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization and accused Maduro of being its leader, which he has denied.