Rubio, Hegseth to brief Congress on Caribbean campaign
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are set to brief members of Congress on Tuesday morning regarding "military strikes and other Western hemisphere updates," according to a memo sent to House members. This comes amid growing scrutiny over U.S. military actions.
The secretaries are set to hold classified briefings with the Senate and then the House of Representatives, according to Rubio’s public schedule, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The all-member meetings come amid growing criticism from Democrats and from human rights groups accusing the United States of carrying out dozens of extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, and as President Donald Trump talks about potential land strikes.
Tuesday’s meetings also come a week after Rubio and Hegseth met with top Senate leadership last week. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer sharply criticized the two Trump administration officials to reporters after that meeting, demanding Hegseth release the full footage of a Sept. 2 double strike on an alleged drug boat, in which the U.S. reportedly attacked survivors after the initial hit.
“I asked Secretary of Defense Hegseth: would he let every member of Congress see the unedited videos of the Sept. 2 strike? His answer: ‘We have to study it,’ Schumer told reporters last week.
“Every member of Congress, so many members of Congress Democrat and Republican, have a right to see it, wanted to see it and should see it.”
Democratic leadership sent a letter to Hegseth last Friday urging expedited “public release” of the video. “In terms of Venezuela, I asked them what their strategy is and what they were doing. Again, did not get satisfying answers at all,” Schumer added after last week’s briefing.
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