Lawmakers demand unedited videos of anti-smuggling operations off Latin America before restoring budget.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Congress is moving to withhold one-quarter of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon releases video footage of recent military strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats off the coast of Latin America, Politico reported Monday.
The provision—inserted into the final version of the annual defense policy bill—requires the Pentagon to provide the House and Senate Armed Services Committees with “unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command.”
The bill, unveiled Sunday, is expected to pass both chambers without further amendments this week.
Senior military officials, including Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Navy Adm. Frank Bradley, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, privately showed the footage to key lawmakers over the weekend, according to the report.
However, members of Congress who viewed the unedited video disagreed over its implications. Several top Republicans said the footage validates the administration’s justification for the strikes, while Democrats urged the Pentagon to make the material public to ensure transparency.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., called for the footage to be shared with all members of the committee, not just senior leadership.
The ongoing anti-smuggling campaign, conducted under U.S. Southern Command, has resulted in at least 87 deaths since September. The administration maintains the operations target narco-terrorists responsible for trafficking drugs into the United States.
Some legal analysts, however, have questioned whether the actions fall within established international and domestic laws governing military engagement in non-war zones.
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