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Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews into U.S. military strikes on vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, following a report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly issued a verbal order directing U.S. forces to kill all survivors of a Sept. 2 strike.
Members of Congress cautioned that they do not yet know whether the account, first published by The Washington Post, is accurate. But several lawmakers said that directing attacks on people no longer capable of fighting would raise grave legal issues under U.S. and international law.
“This rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said on CBS’ Face the Nation.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, when asked about the allegation of a follow-on strike targeting incapacitated survivors, said Congress lacks evidence that such an attack occurred. Still, he noted that leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees have already opened investigations.
“Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious and I agree that that would be an illegal act,” Turner said.
The controversy has erupted as the Trump administration intensifies its military campaign against drug-smuggling operations it claims are linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. On Saturday, President Donald Trump declared that airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be treated as “closed in its entirety,” a statement that drew immediate condemnation from Caracas, which accused Washington of issuing a “colonial threat.”
Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening while returning from Thanksgiving events in Florida, Trump confirmed he had recently spoken with Maduro. The call was first reported by The New York Times.
“I wouldn’t say it went well or badly,” Trump said when pressed for details of the conversation. The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump said the administration “will look into” the allegation against Hegseth but added, “I wouldn’t have wanted that — not a second strike.” He defended the Pentagon chief, saying, “Pete said he did not order the death of those two men. And I believe him.”
Hegseth has forcefully denied the Post’s reporting. In a statement Friday on X, he accused the press of manufacturing claims to undermine U.S. military personnel. “Fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland,” he wrote, adding that current operations “are lawful under both U.S. and international law” and have been vetted “by the best military and civilian lawyers.”
Bipartisan leaders on Capitol Hill appear unconvinced by the administration’s assurances alone. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, said Friday the committee “will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
A similar message was issued Saturday by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and ranking Democratic member Rep. Adam Smith of Washington. In a joint statement, they said the committee is committed to “providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean” and is seeking a full accounting of the Sept. 2 strike.
“We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region,” Rogers and Smith said, referring to U.S. Southern Command.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a retired Air Force brigadier general, said on ABC’s This Week that Hegseth deserves the opportunity to respond formally to Congress but expressed doubt that the defense secretary ordered an unlawful killing.
“We should get to the truth,” Bacon said. “I don’t think he would be foolish enough to make this decision to say, kill everybody, kill the survivors, because that’s a clear violation of the law of war. I’m very suspicious that he would’ve done something like that because it would go against common sense.”
Congressional scrutiny of U.S. counter-narcotics operations in the region has increased in recent years as the administration has expanded authorities for conducting strikes against maritime targets it links to criminal networks. Lawmakers in both parties said Sunday that even as they await answers, the allegations — if substantiated — could represent a serious breach of legal and ethical obligations governing the use of American military force.
