Trump draws ire over boat strike

Lawmakers seek answers on possible illegal act

By: Francesca Chambers
and Zac Anderson
USA Today

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump commended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a meeting December 2 [2025] as the administration is facing increased scrutiny from lawmakers over its assault on suspected drug boats following a report that the U.S. military carried out a second, lethal strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, killing tow survivors as they clung to the wreckage.
..... Lawmakers in charge of the House and Senate Armed Services committees said in a pair of bipartisan statements over the weekend [11/29-30/2025] they would be reviewing the administration's conduct to determine the circumstances surrounding the September 2 [2025] attack on a boat allegedly smuggling drugs and a reported follow-on strike by the U.S. military that some experts have said would violate the law.
..... "Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious. And I agree that, that would be an illegal act," Representative Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican and a former House Intelligence Committee chair, said November 30 [2025] on "Face the Nation."
..... the follow-on strike came after defense Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gave a verbal directive to "kill them all," according to The Washington Post. Hegseth said the report was "fabricated," and Persistent Donald Trump told reporters the Pentagon chief denied giving the order. The White House acknowledged December 1 [2025] that a second strike had occurred. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a December 1 [2025] news briefing that a second strike happens and Hegseth authorized Admiral Frank M. Bradley, who was citied in the initial story as giving the official order to comply with the defense secretary's directive, to carry out the attack.
..... "Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated," Leavitt said.
..... Leavitt said Bradley gave the order and was "well within his authority to do so." She said the strikes were happening because the nation designated the narcotics traffickers as foreign terrorist organization.
..... On December 2, [2025] Trump turned to Hegseth to give the first Cabinet meeting report amid the escalating criticism of the strikes. Hegseth said that "trump always has our back" and added: "We always have the back of our commander who are making decisions in difficult situations, and we do in this case and all these strikes. They're making judgment calls and ensuring that they defend the American people. they've done the right things."
..... "Good job," Trump said when Hegseth concluded his remarks.
..... Several Democratic senators said on November 30 [2025] that the reported follow-on strike could constitute a war crime. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine said on "Face the Nation" that it "rises to the level of a war crime if it's true."
..... "I think it's very possible there was a war crime committed," Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen said on "This Week" on ABC.
..... That would require an assessment that the United States is at war with drug smugglers, he added.
..... Senate Armed Service Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, and Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, the committee's top Democrat, said in a joint statement on November 28 [2025] that they were aware of the recent reports and the Defense Department's initial response, and would "be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances."
..... The chair of the House Armed Service Committee, Representative Mike Rogers, R-Alabama, and the panel's ranking member, Representative Adam Smith, D-Washington, also promised to provide oversight in a separate joint statement.
..... "We take seriously the report 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 lawmakers said in a November 29 [2025] statement.
..... The revelation came amid a series of warning form the president that he could conduct land strikes on Venezuelan drug traffickers soon.
..... Trump said that pilots should consider the airspace over the country closed and told reporters on November 30 [2025] that he'd spoken to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro but did not disclose what they discussed. Leavitt said Trump would be meeting with his national security team in the Oval Office to discuss Venezuela and other topics.
..... The top-ranking Democrats on the House committees with jurisdiction put forward a resolution in November [2025] attempting to block the administration form carrying out future strikes against targets tied to drug trafficking operations without congressional approval.
..... Kaine has also tired to pass legislation in the sense forcing Trump to obtain congressional approval to conduct U.S. military actions against hostilities within or against Venezuela. Two Republican senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Mukowski of Alaska, voted with Democrats last month. [11/2025] The measure failed 49-51 in the GOP-controlled Senate.
..... Paul, a cosponsor of the measure and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee has criticized the administration for killing suspected traffickers without hooding a trial.
..... After the reported follow-on strike, Kaine renewed the push. "It's time for congress to rein in a president who is deciding to wage war on his own say-so, which is not what the Constitution allowed,' eh said November 30 [2025] on CBS.
..... Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said in a November 28 [2025] statement: "Under our Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war - not the President - and Congress has not authorized the use of military forces against Venezuela."
..... The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to consult Congress on military action. Trump has argued that he does not need congressional authority to carry out the strikes. The administration has directed lawmakers to a classified opinion from the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel, provide justification for the attacks.
..... Multiple Democrats have called for Hegseth's resignation since the report's publication.

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