The Armed Services committees in the House and Senate plan bipartisan investigations into boat strikes in the Caribbean, after the Washington Post reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a double-tap strike against a Venezuelan boat off the coast of Trinidad that DOD suspected was trafficking drugs. 

“We take seriously the reports 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,” House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said in a . 

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) also issued a joint statement vowing “vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to the circumstances,” as The Guardian reported. 

The White House Monday confirmed the strike took place Sept. 2 and defended Hegseth’s orders and the actions SOUTHCOM leaders took to carry them out. 

Secretary of Defense photo by Alexander Kubitza