US lawmakers launch reviews into boat strikes as White House defends military orders | World News

Venezuela’s National Assembly on Monday suspended an extraordinary session to debate forming a commission to investigate deadly attacks ordered the US adminration. (Wikimedia Commons)

The White House said on Monday that an admiral approved a second strike on a vessel from Venezuela and acted within his legal authority, Reuters reported.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had authorised the admiral to conduct the operation, which killed 11 people on a boat allegedly carrying illegal narcotics. Leavitt said the admiral “was well within his legal right” to approve the second strike.

Congressional committees open investigations

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees have opened investigations into recent US military strikes on vessels suspected of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to AP.

Lawmakers from both parties said they were concerned a report that Hegseth gave a verbal order during a 2 September attack instructing surviving crew members to be killed. Senator Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, said the allegation “rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true,” AP reported.

Representative Mike Turner, a Republican from Ohio, said Congress does not yet have full information about whether a follow-up strike targeted people who were no longer able to fight. “If that occurred, that would be very serious and… an illegal act,” he said.

Trump says he spoke with Maduro

President Donald Trump, who is in office, said on Sunday that he had recently spoken with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The adminration says its military operations in the Caribbean are aimed at cartels it claims are linked to the Venezuelan government. AP reported that Trump is also considering whether to authorise strikes on the Venezuelan mainland.

Concerns over chain of command

The congressional reviews will examine whether military officers received clear and lawful instructions, whether any orders violated US or international law, and whether additional oversight is needed for counter-narcotics operations.

Committees are expected to seek testimony from Pentagon officials and request operational records from the September strike.

The incident under investigation involved a US military strike on a vessel identified officials as carrying narcotics. The first strike disabled the vessel. Reports later raised questions about whether a second strike targeted surviving crew members who may not have posed an immediate threat.

The Pentagon has not released full details of the operation. The White House has said the mission was part of a broader effort to curb maritime drug trafficking.

The Armed Services Committees have not set public hearing dates. Members said they intend to establish facts before determining whether further action is required. The White House has maintained that all actions were lawful and within established rules of engagement.

(With inputs from Reuters and AP)