The Senate and House Armed Services committees want to strengthen oversight of the Pentagon after media reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered “kill everyone” during the attack on a ship near Venezuela on September 2, The Washington Post (WP) reported.
On September 2, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States had struck a ship in the southern Caribbean that was allegedly carrying drugs. The secretary claimed that the ship had sailed from Venezuela. The WP newspaper, citing sources, reported that Hegseth gave a verbal order “kill everyone” during the operation. The ship was hit twice, with two of the 11 crew members surviving the first attack.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-SC) and Jack Reed (D-MO), the top Democrat on the committee, said they were aware of media reports about Hegseth's actions. They said the committee had sent inquiries to the Pentagon. "We intend to review the situation in detail to determine the facts," the WP quoted a statement as saying.
The House Armed Services Committee later announced plans to "take bipartisan action to obtain a full report on the operation." The committee intends to “organize strict oversight of the Department of Defense's military operations in the Caribbean“.
According to the newspaper, the Pentagon has refused to invite lawyers to explain the legal basis for the strikes in some closed legislative briefings. The department has not shared intelligence or revealed the identities of those killed in the strikes, which has caused bewilderment among members of Congress, including Republicans. According to the newspaper, the United States has already carried out more than 20 strikes on ships in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.