Top Armed Services Democrat calls for House hearing on strikes against alleged drug boats
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called for a hearing on the Trump administration’s deadly strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats off the coast of Venezuela.
Smith accused the administration of refusing to answer questions regarding President Trump’s directives to strike vessels — which the administration argues are smuggling drugs into the U.S. — in the Caribbean Sea, an ongoing campaign that has killed at least 30 people
“I call on Speaker [Mike] Johnson [R-La.] to immediately bring the House back into session to not only work to end the Republican shutdown, but to also enable the committees to conduct critical oversight,” Smith said in a statement Monday. “The House Armed Services Committee must convene a hearing to secure answers to the questions about military operations in the Caribbean and for the [U.S. Southern Command] Commander to testify on these matters.”
So far, the U.S. military has conducted seven strikes. The latest strike took place Friday and was disclosed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday. Three people were killed on a boat reportedly affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional, a Colombian armed group.
Hegseth said the boat was transporting a “substantial amounts of narcotics. The attack took place in international waters.
The decision to hold a hearing would be up to House GOP leadership. The lower chamber has been in recess amid the federal government shutdown, which is nearing its fourth week.
“They have failed to demonstrate the legality of these strikes, provide transparency on the process used, or even a list of cartels that have been designated as terrorist organizations,” Smith said.
“We have also yet to see any evidence to support the President’s unilateral determinations that these vessels or their activities posed imminent threats to the United States of America that warranted military force rather than law enforcement-led interdiction,” the Washington Democrat added.
The boats strikes have prompted pushback from Senate Democrats and even some Republicans, such as Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), who have questioned the legality of the move.
Earlier this month, Trump told Congress the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels designated as terrorist organizations by the administration, providing legal rationale for the attacks.
The administration plans to repatriate two alleged drug traffickers to Ecuador and Colombia, both of whom survived a U.S. military’s boat strike that took place Thursday. The strike killed two other “narcoterrorists,” according to the administration.
The same day, Hegseth confirmed that four-star Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, the U.S. Southern Command commander, would retire from the Navy on Dec. 12, after less than a year in a role.
Smith called on Holsey, who reportedly expressed concerns over the boat strikes, to testify regarding the military’s engagement in the region.
“Never before in my over 20 years on the committee can I recall seeing a combatant commander leave their post this early and amid such turmoil,” Smith said in the statement. “I have also never seen such a staggering lack of transparency on behalf of an Administration and the Department to meaningfully inform Congress on the use of lethal military force.”