Trump administration gave GOP senators secret details about strikes on alleged drug boats, leaving Dems on outs
The Trump administration this week provided more than a dozen Senate Republicans a secret target list for its ongoing military campaign in the Caribbean Sea, as well as a detailed legal rationale for the attacks, officials said Thursday, as part of a GOP-only Capitol Hill briefing that angered Democrats.
The new information, which had been requested by both Republicans and Democrats as the military operations stretched into their second month, suggested the administration was preparing for sustained operations against drug cartels and that it believed the military strikes could withstand potential legal challenges.
It was not immediately clear why the administration invited only certain Republicans to the briefing, with some officials speculating the list was aimed at swaying certain lawmakers on a brewing debate in Congress on the War Powers Act and whether lawmakers should have more of a say in advance of the military operations.
"When an administration decides it can pick and choose which elected representatives get the understanding of their legal argument of why [drug cartels need] military force and only chooses a particular party, it ignores all the checks and balances," said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
"Congress has an oversight role here. This is US Government 101," he later added.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump designated certain drug cartels as "terrorist organizations," a legal designation he says enables him to strike anyone suspected of smuggling narcotics toward the United States.
In a recent notification to Congress about the strikes, Trump's lawyers said the U.S. was in an "armed conflict" with the cartels.
Legal experts have questioned the rationale of linking drug smugglers to armed militants like al-Qaida because they would not necessarily pose an imminent risk to Americans.
Since Sept. 2, the military has conducted 14 strikes and killed 61 people, posting video of boats exploding.
"The Western Hemisphere is no longer a safe haven for narco-terrorists bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans," wrote Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on X after the latest round of strikes.
Sources say that before this week, the administration provided two Senate bipartisan briefings -- one for members and one for lawmakers. Neither time provided a detailed legal rationale for the strikes.
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson declined to answer questions about the briefings and why Democrats weren't invited.
"Department of War has briefed the appropriate committees of jurisdiction, including the Senate Intelligence committee, numerous times throughout the operations targeting narco-terrorists. These have occurred on a bipartisan basis, and will continue as such," she said.
Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican who is on the intelligence and armed services committees, suggested he was uncomfortable with the Republican-only invitation list and said he spoke to the White House about ensuring future access includes members of both parties.
"This is an unfortunate situation, and I wish it wouldn't have happened this way," Rounds told reporters, who added that he talked to a number of colleagues who said they all agreed such meetings should be held on a bipartisan basis.
Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, said he had no issue with how the briefing was handled and said he was satisfied with the answers they provided.
"I left there convinced as I was when I went in that the president has absolute authority -- not only authority, the duty -- to protect the American people when somebody is sending something the United States to attack and kill Americans," he said.
On the House side, the administration briefed both Republicans and Democrats on Thursday from the House Armed Services Committee, although lawyers were not on hand to discuss the legal rationale.
According to one House Democrat, lawmakers were told the narcotics being targeted in the shipments were cocaine, not fentanyl.
"They admitted that all of the narcotics coming out of this part of the world is cocaine," said Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif. "They talked a little bit about the connection between cocaine and fentanyl, although I'm not convinced that what they said was accurate."
Jacobs said lawmakers were also told the government does not need to positively identify individuals on these vessels to do the strikes.
"They just need to prove a connection to smuggling," she said.
