GOP fractures over Hegseth's 'double-tap' Caribbean strike as Congress probes legality
Senate Republicans are divided on their view of the deadly Sept. 2 strikes in the Caribbean as congressional inquiries into the matter mount, with some arguing that subduing suspected drug...
By Fox News · Fox News
Senate Republicans are divided on their view of the deadly Sept. 2 strikes in the Caribbean as congressional inquiries into the matter mount, with some arguing that subduing suspected drug boats is the right move while others question the legality of the so-called double-tap attacks. The Senate and House Armed Services committees are gearing up for hearings into the strikes after reports that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth , later confirmed by the White House, authorized a second strike to eliminate survivors on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean. But there is a growing tension among Republicans over what to do. Some support Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker’s, R-Miss., desire for stringent oversight of the incident, while others see the strikes as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on drugs flowing into the country. JOHNSON POINTS TO OBAMA-ERA DRONE PRECEDENT AS CONGRESS PROBES DEADLY CARIBBEAN STRIKE Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital he was "very, very, very supportive of killing drug dealers. I think the more narco-terrorists that we kill, that we save American lives." "I'm not concerned about killing people whose intent was to kill Americans at all," Moreno said. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Hegseth gave the green-light for the second strike, but noted that it was Adm. Frank Bradley, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, who ordered and directed it. That confirmation came after a report from The Washington Post claimed Hegseth had ordered to "kill them all," which some on the Hill have disputed. HEGSETH BACKS SPECIAL OPS CHIEF'S 'COMBAT DECISIONS' IN DEADLY CARIBBEAN STRIKE AHEAD OF CLASSIFIED BRIEFING Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that he read the article and charged that there "wasn't an exact quote from Secretary Hegseth. There was an anonymous source paraphrased what the secretary allegedly said." "So, here we've got a story in The Washington Post, which is known to hate Tr…