The face-off between Hegseth and Rubio, and US lawmakers, comes at a time when President Donald Trump is ramping up Washington's actions against Venezuela. Last month, Trump said that the US would “very soon” begin targeting suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on land.
“You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon,” Trump said during a virtual Thanksgiving call with American service members.
What happened during the hearing?
US House Speaker Mike Johnson gave brief remarks after Rubio and Hegseth spoke to House lawmakers in a classified briefing at the Capitol.
“This is some exquisite intelligence that supports these actions. It is certainly appropriate; it is necessary to protect the United States and our interests. That’s what was presented today,” the Republican speaker said.
Meanwhile, Rubio said, "We’ll continue to engage with Congress on this."
Rubio did not mention the boat strikes directly during his public remarks about what he called the “counter-drug mission.”
He said it is “focused on dismantling the infrastructure of these terrorist organisations that are operating in our hemisphere, undermining the security of Americans.”
Rubio said, “This has been a highly successful mission that’s ongoing.”
Govt to show video to lawmakers
Hegseth says the Pentagon will release to select lawmakers the full, unedited video of a September 2 second military strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in the Caribbean that’s been criticised because of a second hit on the boat that killed two survivors of the original attack.
He said that the video would be shown to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on Wednesday, while the Navy admiral who greenlit the strike will provide a commentary along with it.
However, he said the video remains classified and would not be released to the general public or lawmakers without a role in Pentagon oversight.
“We’re proud of what we’re doing, able to lay it out very directly,” he said.
With inputs from agencies
