Top Republican and Democratic senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee issued a joint statement vowing to examine a report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a U.S. strike force to kill everyone aboard a suspected drug trafficking ship in September.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the committee’s chairman, and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), said in a news release that the committee has “directed investigations” to the Department of Defense and “will conduct vigorous oversight to determine the facts surrounding these circumstances.”

News, big deal: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) issues statement with SASC top Democrat Jack Reed pledging “vigorous oversight” of Hegseth’s “kill them all” order, after Hegseth previously dismissed the WaPo story as “fake news.” https://t.co/AQNHWalkHS pic.twitter.com/wxIlDQM1gw

– Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) November 29, 2025

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News, big deal: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) issues statement with SASC top Democrat Jack Reed pledging “vigorous oversight” of Hegseth’s “kill them all” order, after Hegseth previously dismissed the WaPo story as “fake news.” https://t.co/AQNHWalkHS pic.twitter.com/wxIlDQM1gw

– Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) November 29, 2025

The Washington Post on Friday published a stunning report based on interviews and accounts from seven people “with knowledge” of a Sept. 2 military attack that killed 11 people aboard a ship off the coast of Trinidad. Intelligence analysts suspected the ship was carrying drugs.

“The order was to kill everyone,” one person told the Post.

To carry out Hegseth’s directive, Admiral Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley ordered a second attack to kill two men in the water who had initially survived, according to the Post.

ABC News later confirmed that two survivors were killed in a second attack, although it did not confirm “the details of the orders” from Hegseth or Bradley.

President Donald Trump has previously attempted to justify killing people aboard suspected drug trafficking vessels in international waters rather than arresting and trying them in court. The strikes have drawn harsh condemnations, including from legal experts.

In

Pete Hegseth dismissed an explosive report about a September military attack on a ship suspected of transporting drugs as the work of
Pete Hegseth dismissed an explosive report about a September military attack on a ship suspected of transporting drugs as the work of “fake news.”

Félix León / News via Getty Images

In their statement, Senators Wicker and Reed noted that they were “aware” of both the news of the attacks and “the Department of Defense’s initial response.”