WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is facing increased scrutiny from lawmakers over its assault on suspected drug boats following a report that the U.S. military carried out a second, lethal strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, killing two survivors as they clung to the wreckage.

Lawmakers in charge of the House and Senate Armed Services committees said in a pair of bipartisan statements over the weekend that they would be reviewing the administration's conduct to determine the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 2 attack on a boat allegedly smuggling drugs and a reported follow-on strike by the U.S. military that some experts have said would violate the law.

"Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious. And I agree that, that would be an illegal act," Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican and a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, said on "Face the Nation" on Nov. 30.

The follow-on strike came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a verbal directive to "kill them all," according to the Washington Post. Hegseth said the report was "fabricated," and President Donald Trump told reporters that the Pentagon chief denied giving the order. The White House acknowledged on Dec. 1 that a second strike had occurred.

Several Democratic senators said on Nov. 30 that the reported follow-on strike could constitute a war crime. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said on "Face the Nation" that it "rises to the level of a war crime if it's true."

"I think it's very possible there was a war crime committed," Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said on "This Week" on ABC News.

That would require an assessment that the U.S. is at war with drug smugglers, he added.

"Of course, they've never presented the public with the information they've got here," Van Hollen said. "If that theory is wrong, then it's plain murder."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a news briefing on Dec. 1 that a second strike happened and Hegseth authorized Adm. Frank M. Bradley, who was cited in the initial story as giving the official order to comply with the defense secretary's directive, to carry out the attack.

"Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated," Leavitt said.

Leavitt said Bradley gave the order and was "well within his authority to do so." She said the strikes were happening because the U.S. designated the narcotics traffickers as foreign terrorist organizations.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, and Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the committee's top Democrat, said in a joint statement on the evening of Nov. 28 that they were aware of the recent reports and the Defense Department's initial response, and would "be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, and the panel's ranking member, Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, also promised to provide oversight in a separate joint statement.

“We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question," the lawmakers said in a Nov. 29 statement.

The revelation came amid a series of warnings from the president that he could conduct land strikes on Venezuelan drug traffickers soon.

"We’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon," Trump told troops on Thanksgiving.

Trump said over the weekend that pilots should consider the airspace over the country closed and told reporters on Nov. 30 that he'd spoken to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro but did not disclose what they discussed. Leavitt said Trump would be meeting with his national security team in the Oval Office to discuss Venezuela and other topics.

The top-ranking Democrats on the House committees with jurisdiction put forward a resolution last month attempting to block the administration from carrying out future strikes against targets tied to drug trafficking operations without congressional approval.

Kaine has also tried to pass legislation in the Senate forcing Trump to obtain congressional approval to conduct U.S military action against hostilities within or against Venezuela. Two Republican senators, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted with Democrats last month. The measure failed 49-51 in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Paul, a cosponsor of the measure and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, has criticized the administration for killing suspected traffickers without holding a trial.

After the reported follow-on strike, Kaine renewed the push. "It's time for Congress to rein in a president who is deciding to wage war on his own say-so, which is not what the Constitution allowed," he said on Nov. 30 on CBS.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a Nov. 28 statement, "Under our Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war — not the President — and Congress has not authorized the use of military force against Venezuela."

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to consult Congress on military action. Trump has argued that he does not need congressional authority to carry out the strikes. The administration has directed lawmakers to a classified opinion from the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel, which Democrats have said does not provide justification for the attacks.

Turner, the former Intel chairman, said that Congress has "serious concerns" about the attacks and "the legal justification that has been provided," and said the reported follow-on strike was "completely outside" what had been discussed with lawmakers.

Multiple Democrats have called for Hegseth's resignation since the report's publication.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump under scrutiny after strike on suspected Venezuelan drug boat

Reporting by Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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