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Lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea, as well as the eastern Pacific Ocean. Reports suggest that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of a Sept. 2 attack. Officials said 11 people were killed in the September 2 mission.
Lawmakers were still looking into the Washington Post report. They were clear that, if true, attacking survivors of an initial missile strike poses serious legal concerns.
“This rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
Republican Representative Mike Rogers, who leads the House Armed Services Committee, pledged in a statement issued alongside the committee's top Democrat, Representative Adam Smith, to carry out "rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean."
As of Monday morning, prediction markets had Hegseth's odds of being the first cabinet member to leave the US President Donald Trump administration at 35 percent at Kalshi. That number was hovering around 18 percent just 48 hours ago. By comparison, the cabinet member with the second shortest odds, Susie Wiles, came in at 6 percent. It should be noted that Polymarket only had Hegseth's chances of leaving next at 6 percent as of Monday morning, though his odds of exiting before 2027 came in close to 50 percent.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, when asked about a follow-up strike aimed at people no longer able to fight, said Congress does not have information that happened. He noted that leaders of the Armed Services Committee in both the House and Senate have opened investigations.
Over the weekend, Hegseth shrugged off the report, even sharing a meme of a children's book character firing on a narco terrorist drug boat.
Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, who is running for Senate, blasted Hegseth.
For your Christmas wish list… pic.twitter.com/pLXzg20SaL
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) December 1, 2025
"You're a disgrace," he wrote.
"There's nothing Christian about war crimes," former Rep. Justin Amash wrote in response to Hegseth's post.
'For your Christmas wish list…' Hegseth joked when sharing the fake book cover.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Sunday, said he had "great confidence" Hegseth did not issue such a spoken order.
"I wouldn't have wanted that—a second strike," Trump said. "The first strike was very lethal. It was fine."
- TC Jackson, Gambling911.com
