Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced a resolution Friday seeking to block U.S. military strikes on drug trafficking operations in the Caribbean, arguing the actions were launched without congressional authorization.
Filed under the War Powers Act, the measure would bar use of military force against non-state drug trafficking groups unless approved by Congress. Because war powers resolutions are privileged, the Senate is required to debate and vote on the measure.
The move comes after two U.S. strikes in the Southern Caribbean Sea earlier this month—on Sept. 2 and Sept. 15—that targeted narcotics-carrying vessels. Democratic lawmakers said they have not received key details about the incidents, including the identities of those on board, the cargo, and the legal justification for lethal force, the Epoch Times reported.
President Donald Trump has defended the operations, saying the vessels were operated by “extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists” based in Venezuela and carrying narcotics bound for the United States, calling them a direct threat to national security.
“If you are transporting drugs that can kill Americans, we are hunting you,” Trump said after the Sept. 15 operation, which killed three people. He stated that there was recorded evidence of drugs being on board, including large bags of cocaine and fentanyl that were found scattered in the water after the strike.
The White House stated that the earlier strike on September 2 targeted the operations of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan transnational gang designated as a foreign terrorist organization, and that it was carried out in defense of U.S. national interests.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stated that the mission was part of a larger effort to protect the United States and the Western Hemisphere from drug cartels. “Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco-terrorist will face the same fate,” Hegseth said.
