Second Boat Strike Tests Gop Loyalty To Trump

Republicans have largely marched in lockstep with President Donald Trump's campaign to kill alleged drug smugglers off the coast of Latin America. But after the recent revelation of potential war crimes, that unity is starting to show significant cracks.

GOP lawmakers have backed the president amid months of legally questionable strikes against suspected drug boats and increasing tensions with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. But top Republicans now say they must investigate a second follow-up strike in September that killed survivors wounded in the first hit. Even some of Trump's most ardent backers, while dismissive of a drawn-out probe, are questioning the purpose of the attacks.

The situation is testing GOP fealty to a president who demands loyalty — and could further divide a Republican party that’s already split over foreign policy.

“I didn’t give a damn who it was … whoever knowingly violated — that was a violation of ethical, moral and legal code," said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) about the second strike. “If the facts play out the way they’re currently being reported, then somebody needs to get the hell out of Washington.”

The growing frustration follows a Washington Post report over the weekend that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a verbal order to kill all aboard. The White House on Monday acknowledged a second strike, but largely placed responsibility on the military commander of the operation, Adm. Frank Bradley, rather than Hegseth. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Navy admiral was acting within his legal authority.

The Senate and House Armed Services committees have promised an investigation into the second strike, which blew up alleged drug traffickers who were dangling from a boat.

“Most of the people who have been supportive of the president bombing the boats, many of them his biggest supporters, are now saying it's illegal to bomb someone who's clinging to wreckage,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has opposed Trump on the strikes and chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee. The second strike, he said, has “brought more people together” in alarm.

Some Republicans who rarely challenge Trump acknowledge the legal issues are too serious to shrug off. Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) promised “a full investigation” and is expected to seek video recordings and orders connected to the strike. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said both Armed Services panels will conduct oversight because the allegations require detailed explanations.

"Most certainly, there's enough of us that have expressed a concern about getting all of the facts," said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.). "So, first thing we'll do is ask for the facts and then go from there."

Bradley is set to meet with the four Republican and Democratic leaders of the Armed Services panels on Thursday, Wicker said. But he declined to say whether Hegseth had agreed to meet with his panel in public or behind closed doors.

Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) insisted the Bradley meeting would prove pivotal. "We will be able to ask him the direct questions operationally about what happened and who said what,” he said. “So after that meeting, we should have complete clarity about what did and did not happen."

But GOP lawmakers are far from united on the need for a full investigation.

Some of Trump’s strongest defenders are questioning reporting around the incident, arguing Republicans are simply playing into the hands of the administration’s critics.

“This has just been an ongoing effort to try to derail Pete Hegseth,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.). “This is another bullshit line that in a week from now, no one will be talking about."

Another Trump ally, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), praised the Trump administration for acting aggressively to stem the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S.

“I don't think there needs to be additional oversight,” he said. “People have to do a job to protect our country, and that's what they're doing.”

Some Democrats are doubtful that a Republican-led Congress will hold the Trump administration accountable. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) expressed concern that the administration was preparing to shift blame to Bradley, now the U.S. Special Operations Command head who carried out the strike.

“Let's be clear that making Admiral Bradley the fall guy sends a signal to our professional military that they will be blamed for mistakes made by political leaders and that there'll be no protection for them when they follow those orders,” he said.

Hegseth, during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting at the White House, cited the “fog of war” in defending the follow-up strike. He said he did not see survivors in the water when the second strike was ordered and that he “didn’t stick around” after the first strike.

“Admiral Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat,” he said. “We have his back.”

House Armed Services ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) blasted Hegseth’s “fog of war” justification as "unbelievably offensive.”

He argued Tuesday on CNN that this wasn’t a battlefield at all, but “a boat sinking in the ocean and no threat to anybody, much less a service member. I'm a tough on crime sort of guy, but that's what we're going to do, we're just going to kill people without any particular evidence and say, well, drugs are a problem?”

Republicans could soon face another test of their unity on Venezuela. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Paul on Tuesday threatened to force a vote to halt military operations, unless authorized by Congress, if the administration launches strikes inside Venezuela.

Two previous efforts to rein in Trump by requiring congressional approval for future military operations against drug vessels came up short, with few Republicans willing to break ranks.

But Kaine said the politics have shifted.

“The amount of public comments, but also private concerns [from Republicans] that are being expressed, it's raising the level of concern about the legality, but also even just about the strategy … of these operations,” he said.

Alex Gangitano and Paul McLeary contributed to this report.