Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., cautioned that while the Trump administration and its allies may currently support bypassing traditional oversight to target alleged terrorists or drug traffickers, they could later regret granting such sweeping powers to the executive branch.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that the U.S. military killed 14 alleged narco-terrorists in a series of coordinated strikes on four suspected drug vessels in the Eastern Pacific.
“The Department has spent over two decades defending other homelands. Now, we’re defending our own. These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, we will network them, and then we will hunt and kill them,” Hegseth declared.
Critics, however, accused the administration of carrying out lethal attacks abroad without congressional authorization or transparency. Himes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, raised these concerns during an appearance on MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports.
When asked whether U.S. military vessels stationed in the Caribbean should instead assist communities devastated by severe weather, Himes responded:
“Yeah, Chris, I do. It’s a long-standing tradition of the United States — and the U.S. military — to help areas in crisis. Of course, the supposed reason for the military’s presence there — to interdict drugs and conduct these lethal attacks — is illegal. Those strikes have not been authorized by Congress.”
Himes argued that maintaining naval forces near Venezuela, despite most dangerous drugs entering from Mexico and Colombia, appeared to be “purely performative.”
Discussing recent killings during anti-drug operations near Mexico’s Pacific coast — actions Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., described as “extra-judicial” — Himes noted that insufficient evidence has been presented to confirm whether the victims were narco-terrorists, human traffickers, or fishermen.
Host Chris Jansing observed that removing drugs from circulation is often a popular political stance, playing a clip of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., challenging Democrats to debate the issue. Graham asserted that not only did Trump possess the authority to conduct such operations, but that “most Americans are going to be with Trump.”
Himes countered that logic:
“If Lindsey Graham and other Republicans want to say it’s okay to kill people illegally as long as the public supports it, Americans really need to think that through.”
He then offered a warning to conservatives who might celebrate these actions now but oppose them under future leadership.
“There will be a Democratic president someday. And all my MAGA friends cheering on these illegal killings need to imagine who gets targeted when President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says it doesn’t matter what the law says — she’s going to do what she’s going to do.”
Himes concluded by urging Republicans to consider the precedent being set:
“I understand the complete disregard for principle and the rule of law here. But I’d hope people like Lindsey Graham might not go down that path, because it’s a very, very dangerous one for this country.”
The White House responded to Himes’ remarks in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying:
“It’s shameful that Democrats are running cover for evil narcoterrorists trying to poison our homeland as over 100,000 Americans die from overdoses every year. The President acted in line with the laws of armed conflict to protect our country and fulfill his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats.”
