Ranking Member Shaheen, Leader Schumer, Top Democrats on National Security Committees Urge Trump Administration to Immediately Brief Senate on Military Action in the Caribbean[...]

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Chris Coons (D-DE), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard urging an immediate briefing for all Senators on military strikes against alleged narcotraffickers in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

In the letter, Leader Schumer and the top Democrats on these national security Senate committees questioned the Trump Administration's lack of transparency with Congress and the public as strikes continue to escalate, potentially dragging America into open armed conflict and putting our men and women in uniform at risk.

The Senators also demanded answers for why the Trump Administration provided partisan briefings on a significant national security matter. They reminded the Secretaries of their obligation to keep Congress informed so it can fulfill its constitutionally mandated oversight role and ensure the Trump Administration's actions are lawful, align with U.S. national security interests and don't risk dragging our country into open-ended conflict.

"To date, the Administration has failed to provide the full Senate with the basic information necessary to carry out its oversight responsibilities, including the identities of the groups against which the President has authorized the use of military force-even as reports increase that the Administration is planning additional strikes inside Venezuela," wrote the Senators.

"The Administration's actions also threaten to destabilize the region and put U.S. service members in harm's way," concluded the Senators. "The American people deserve straight answers about the details of these operations, their legal basis, and the Administration's broader goals before we find ourselves entangled in yet another endless conflict."

Full text of the letter is available HERE and provided below.

Dear Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth and Director Gabbard:

We write to request that you immediately brief the full Senate on military strikes against alleged narcotraffickers in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. We also request that you provide all legal opinions related to these strikes and a list of the groups or other entities the President has deemed targetable.

To date, the Administration has failed to provide the full Senate with the basic information necessary to carry out its oversight responsibilities, including the identities of the groups against which the President has authorized the use of military force-even as reports increase that the Administration is planning additional strikes inside Venezuela. Additional information is vital for the public and Congress as the Administration draws us deeper and deeper towards open conflict-putting our men and women in uniform at risk.

The Administration has already conducted more than one dozen strikes, killing at least 61 people, without providing answers to fundamental questions about the policy rationale, domestic and international legal justification, or long-term consequences. Instead, the Administration has selectively shared what has at times been contradictory information with certain Members of Congress, while excluding others. Even more concerning, in a breach of longstanding practice, on at least one occasion the Administration has conducted a partisan briefing exclusively for Members of the Majority party.

The Administration has also failed to provide the full Senate with basic details surrounding these operations routinely provided by past Administrations during similar conflicts. Here, the Administration has yet to provide the full Senate with a list of the groups it has designated as targetable, the identities of the individuals targeted and killed or intelligence (including unedited video of the strikes) confirming these groups and individuals were lawful targets. Nor has it provided information demonstrating the individuals killed were in fact drug traffickers, the types and quantities of drugs destroyed or any justification for why more cost-effective and legally justifiable measures were not pursued, such as interdiction.

During other significant national security developments, including the counter ISIS campaign in Syria under the first Trump Administration, prior Administrations provided cabinet-level, bipartisan briefings to all Members of Congress-at a regular cadence. This Administration, unfortunately, has been absent.

We support working to stop cartels and drug traffickers from transporting drugs to the United States; however, the Administration has shared no information to suggest that its military operations in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean are effective. As you know, the overwhelming majority of fentanyl trafficked into the United States is not transported through the Caribbean or Eastern Pacific, but throughout ports of entry along the Southwest border with Mexico.

The Administration's actions also threaten to destabilize the region and put U.S. service members in harm's way. The American people deserve straight answers about the details of these operations, their legal basis, and the Administration's broader goals before we find ourselves entangled in yet another endless conflict.

We urge you to promptly brief the full Senate on the Administration's actions to date, its future plans for the region, and to answer fully questions that we and the American public have about these operations.

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