US House and Senate lawmakers to meet with top admiral on Thursday about double strike on boats from Venezuela
As the Trump administration continues military strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, several Republican lawmakers are ramping up scrutiny on the administration over a double strike in early September.
The strikes on suspected drug boats from Venezuela have drawn pushback from both parties – in particular, the second strike on a single boat to kill remaining survivors. The Washington Post reported that the order for a second strike came from the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, which Hegseth has denied.
At Donald Trump’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Hegseth reaffirmed that the decorated US navy admiral Frank Bradley ultimately “sunk the boat and eliminated the threat”. Hegseth said that while he “watched that first strike”, he did not “stick around for the hour or two hours” after.
Congress is now getting involved. Bradley is due to sit with top lawmakers on both the House and Senate armed services committees for a classified briefing on Thursday about the events of 2 September.
