Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., leaves the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the week on Thursday, September 4, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"President Trump and his Administration continue to fail to answer pressing questions regarding the President’s orders to carry out lethal U.S. military strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea," Smith said in a Monday statement.
"They have failed to demonstrate the legality of these strikes, provide transparency on the process used, or even a list of cartels that have been designated as terrorist organizations," Smith said. "We have also yet to see any evidence to support the President’s unilateral determinations that these vessels or their activities posed imminent threats to the United States of America that warranted military force rather than law enforcement-led interdiction."
The Trump administration has adopted an aggressive approach to combat the flow of drugs into the U.S., and designated drug cartel groups like Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa and others as foreign terrorist organizations in February.
Additionally, the White House sent lawmakers a memo Sept. 30 alerting them that the U.S. is engaged in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug smugglers, and the U.S. military has conducted at least seven strikes against vessels off the coast of Venezuela.
TRUMP TOUTS US STRIKE AS MADURO SLAMS MILITARY ‘THREAT’ OFF VENEZUELA
Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth visits to the Panama Canal on April 08, 2025 in Panama City, Panama. Panama Canal Administrator Dr. Ricaurte Vasquez Morales welcomes Pete Hegseth. (Daniel Gonzalez/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Smith isn’t the only one pressing for more information on Trump’s war on drugs. Lawmakers in the Senate — including some Republicans — also are pushing for greater oversight on the strikes, and have called into question whether the strikes were even legal as Trump weighs land operations next.
On Friday, Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a war powers resolution that would prohibit U.S. armed forces from participating in "hostilities" against Venezuela.
"The Trump administration has made it clear they may launch military action inside Venezuela’s borders and won't stop at boat strikes in the Caribbean," Schiff said in a Friday statement.
"In recent weeks, we have seen increasingly concerning movements and reporting that undermine claims that this is merely about stopping drug smugglers," Schiff said. "Congress has not authorized military force against Venezuela. And we must assert our authority to stop the United States from being dragged — intentionally or accidentally — into full-fledged war in South America."
Trump has brushed off lawmakers’ concerns about the legality of the strikes, and said Oct. 14 that the alleged drug vessels are "fair game" because they are "loaded up with drugs."
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-pressure-builds-answers-trumps-caribbean-strikes-commanders-sudden-exit