House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith demanded an immediate hearing into the Trump administration’s controversial counter-narcotics campaign.
“President Trump and his Administration continue to fail to answer pressing questions regarding the President’s orders to carry out lethal U.S. military strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea,” the Washington Democrat said Monday.
The administration publicly confirmed multiple lethal strikes at sea against vessels suspected of trafficking drugs toward the United States.
The strikes, which the White House and Pentagon have defended as necessary steps in a broad effort to choke off fentanyl and cocaine flows, have killed scores of suspected smugglers and prompted questions about legal authority, oversight, and coordination with partner nations.
Smith called on Speaker Mike Johnson to reconvene the House, end the government shutdown that has stalled congressional oversight, and allow lawmakers to investigate the operations.
📹 ON CAMERA: This morning, President Trump ordered a strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations headed to America and loaded with enough drugs to kill 25,000 to 50,000 PEOPLE off the Coast of Venezuela.
BE WARNED! pic.twitter.com/231ttj4q9P
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 3, 2025
He pointed to recent reports that U.S. forces killed more than 30 people in a string of seven strikes since early September and to the unexpected early retirement of U.S. Southern Command Commander Admiral Alvin Holsey.
“Never before in my over 20 years on the committee can I recall seeing a combatant commander leave their post this early and amid such turmoil,” Smith wrote.
He said the Department of Defense and the administration have offered insufficient detail about the legal basis for the strikes and how targets were identified.
He also noted press reports that two survivors from one raid were being repatriated, a fact that, Smith argued, undercuts the White House’s insistence that those targeted were hardened terrorists.
President Trump posted footage to his Truth Social account over the weekend showing a strike on a suspected drug-carrying submarine and hailed the operation as a blow to the narcotics trade.
“It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route,” Trump wrote, asserting the vessel was loaded with fentanyl and other illegal drugs and claiming the strike prevented “at least 25,000 Americans” from dying.
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The president also announced that the surviving suspects would be returned to Ecuador and Colombia for detention and prosecution.
Officials later said one Ecuadorian man, identified as Andrés Fernando Tufiño, was medically evaluated and found to be in good health after repatriation.
Ecuador’s attorney general said there was no open case to detain him. The other survivor, a Colombian, was reported to be hospitalized with severe brain trauma and sedated, while Colombian authorities reportedly plan criminal charges in that case.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has defended the missions as routine counter-drug work conducted under the commander-in-chief’s authority and has pledged more such strikes “until the attacks on the American people are over.” Hegseth and Pentagon officials say the strikes are aimed at groups tied to violent networks that traffic narcotics, including organizations the U.S. has labeled terrorist entities, such as Tren de Aragua and the Cartel de los Soles.
Hegseth released video of another strike Sunday and said the crew of the struck vessel had links to the National Liberation Army, an insurgent group from Colombia.
On October 17th, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organization, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.
The… pic.twitter.com/1v7oR879LC
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 19, 2025
The administration says the campaign grew out of increased interdiction operations like Operation Pacific Viper, in which the U.S. Coast Guard has stepped up seizures in the Eastern Pacific.
But Smith and other Democrats have demanded to see the underlying intelligence and legal memos that purportedly justify lethal force against vessels on the high seas.
They want to know how the administration determined who was a legitimate target, what safeguards were in place to protect bystanders, and whether partner nations were notified or asked to assist in prosecutions.
The New York Times reported that Admiral Holsey had brought up questions internally about legality before his early retirement, an account that Smith cited as further evidence that Congress needs to examine the issue.
The White House’s public account of the strikes and Trump’s blunt messaging on social media have inflamed tensions with allied governments.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the strikes murder and criticized the U.S. response, prompting Trump to announce in a Truth Social post that foreign aid to Colombia would be halted.
“President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs,” Trump wrote, adding that Bogotá needed to stop the “killing fields” or Washington would take harsher action.
Petro escalated the rhetoric on Monday, saying it might be time to “get rid” of Trump.
The exchange has highlighting the diplomatic risks of unilateral military action in international waters, even when aimed at drug interdiction.
Smith has asked that the House Armed Services Committee call witnesses, including the former SOUTHCOM commander, to testify on the missions and the internal debate over their legality.
For now, the shutdown has left that oversight effort in limbo, prompting Smith to demand that Speaker Johnson bring the chamber back to work so lawmakers can do their job.
