A bipartisan group of lawmakers raised serious concerns on Sunday over whether U.S. military officials may have committed a war crime during President Donald Trump’s aggressive campaign against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean. Their remarks followed a Washington Post report alleging that U.S. forces carried out a second strike on survivors of an earlier attack, reportedly under verbal orders from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to eliminate everyone aboard targeted boats.

According to the report, Secretary Hegseth had instructed commanders to kill all individuals on vessels believed to be connected to drug trafficking. In early September, after a missile strike left several people alive in the water, a second attack was allegedly ordered to ensure no survivors remained.

Representative Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican and former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that such an action would clearly constitute an illegal act if verified. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia echoed this sentiment on the same network, saying the alleged directive “rises to the level of a war crime.” Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona told CNN that a follow-up strike intended to kill survivors “seems to” qualify as such.

These comments emerged as top Republicans and Democrats on the congressional committees overseeing the Pentagon announced plans to intensify their scrutiny of the Caribbean operations. Mr. Turner said the recent report deepened lawmakers’ longstanding concerns about both the mission and the justification behind it.

He noted that questions surrounding the legality of attacks on suspected drug-smuggling boats in both the Caribbean and the Pacific had already troubled Congress. However, the details described in the Post’s report, he added, went “completely outside of anything that’s been discussed with Congress,” prompting an ongoing investigation.

The probes launched by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees mark the most rigorous congressional review to date of the Trump administration’s escalating military campaign, which has been executed without formal authorization or consultation with Congress. The administration has defended the strikes as part of a broader effort to disrupt drug trafficking networks and pressure the Venezuelan government. More than 80 people have been killed since the offensive began in early September.

Committee leaders took unusual bipartisan steps to address the allegations. Senators Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, and Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, said they had initiated formal inquiries with the Defense Department. The following day, House Armed Services Committee leaders Mike Rogers of Alabama and Adam Smith of Washington issued a joint statement committing themselves to acquiring a full explanation of the operations.

Central to the controversy is whether the United States is operating within a legally recognized armed conflict with drug cartels, a claim administration officials have repeatedly invoked but many lawmakers view as legally questionable. Concerns intensified after The Intercept reported earlier this fall that U.S. forces carried out at least one follow-up strike to kill survivors of an initial attack.

Secretary Hegseth rejected the Washington Post’s reporting in a statement Friday, defending the mission as a series of intentional “lethal, kinetic strikes.” He did not specifically deny the claim that he verbally ordered the killing of survivors but instead called the newspaper’s account “fabricated and inflammatory.”

President Trump, speaking with reporters on Sunday, said he still had confidence in Secretary Hegseth. While the president suggested he “wouldn’t have wanted” a second strike targeting survivors, he repeated Hegseth’s assertion that the report was inaccurate.

Democratic leaders have demanded full transparency. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Secretary Hegseth to release unedited recordings of the strikes so the public can evaluate the events firsthand. Lawmakers aligned with Senator Kelly recently published a video reminding military personnel of their duty to refuse unlawful orders, a move that triggered a Pentagon investigation into Kelly himself.

Kelly said Sunday that he remains concerned that individuals within the chain of command may have crossed ethical and legal lines. His remarks, alongside the newly announced investigations from committee leaders, suggest that Republicans—many of whom have been reluctant to challenge the administration—are now increasingly uneasy about the breadth and legality of the military campaign.

The debate comes at a time when a small group of hard-right Republicans have expressed discomfort with the president’s expanding overseas engagements, arguing they conflict with his promised “America First” philosophy. Still, support for the operation remains strong among many Republicans. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma dismissed the allegations reported by the Post and defended the administration’s approach, saying President Trump was acting decisively to protect the United States.

As congressional investigations move forward, the controversy surrounding the Caribbean strikes is likely to intensify, raising larger questions about the boundaries of presidential military authority and the legal framework governing U.S. counter-narcotics operations abroad.