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Pentagon announces another boat strike amid heightened scrutiny
Hello and thank you for joining us on the US politics live blog.
The US military conducted another deadly strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal narcotics on Thursday, the Pentagon said, killing four men in the eastern Pacific as questions continue to mount over the legality such attacks.
US navy admiral Frank Bradley and the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Dan Caine, had appeared on Thursday before the House and Senate’s armed services and intelligence committees for a closed briefing about a particular attack on 2 September that has come under scrutiny over whether the military had been ordered to issue a second strike upon survivors after an earlier attack.
While both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress said that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, had not ordered the military to kill surviving members of the 2 September attack, they clashed over whether the double strike was appropriate – particularly after video of the incident was played during Thursday’s closed briefing.
“What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service,” Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House armed services committee, said after exiting the meeting. However, he said that Bradley had “confirmed that there had not been a ‘kill them all’ order, and there was not an order to grant no quarter”.
Hegseth, who is also in hot water after a report by the Pentagon’s inspector general concluded that he had violated departmental policies when he shared secret information in a Signal messaging chat in March, has sought to downplay his own involvement in the 2 September attack. But the US southern command in Florida was clear in its social media post announcing the latest overnight strike that it had come “at the direction” of Hegseth.
In other developments:
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The supreme court ruled on Thursday to allow Texas to use a redrawn that adds as many as five Republican-friendly congressional districts. Texas had redrawn its congressional map this summer as part of an effort that Donald Trump initiated to protect Republicans’ slim majority in the House ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
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A federal vaccine advisory panel is expected to vote on Friday whether to change the longstanding recommendation that all newborns be immunized against hepatitis B. The panel advises the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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A grand jury declined to indict Letitia James on Thursday, less than two weeks after judge ruled similar case against New York attorney general unlawful. James has been one of Trump’s top political foes ever since she successfully brought a fraud lawsuit against him in New York.
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A man was arrested for planting pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic party headquarters on the eve of the January 6 insurrection.
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A federal appeals court sided with the Trump administration on Thursday and paused a lower court’s order to end the administration’s deployment of national guard troops in Washington DC.
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Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican president, and Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, are also expected to attend the ball-draw ceremony that will determine which countries will face off in the first group stage matches – but only Trump will be receiving the peace prize, according to Politico.
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My colleagues are running a dedicated live blog on the ceremony here:
Pentagon announces another boat strike amid heightened scrutiny
Hello and thank you for joining us on the US politics live blog.
The US military conducted another deadly strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal narcotics on Thursday, the Pentagon said, killing four men in the eastern Pacific as questions continue to mount over the legality such attacks.
US navy admiral Frank Bradley and the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Dan Caine, had appeared on Thursday before the House and Senate’s armed services and intelligence committees for a closed briefing about a particular attack on 2 September that has come under scrutiny over whether the military had been ordered to issue a second strike upon survivors after an earlier attack.
While both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress said that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, had not ordered the military to kill surviving members of the 2 September attack, they clashed over whether the double strike was appropriate – particularly after video of the incident was played during Thursday’s closed briefing.
“What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service,” Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House armed services committee, said after exiting the meeting. However, he said that Bradley had “confirmed that there had not been a ‘kill them all’ order, and there was not an order to grant no quarter”.
Hegseth, who is also in hot water after a report by the Pentagon’s inspector general concluded that he had violated departmental policies when he shared secret information in a Signal messaging chat in March, has sought to downplay his own involvement in the 2 September attack. But the US southern command in Florida was clear in its social media post announcing the latest overnight strike that it had come “at the direction” of Hegseth.
In other developments:
-
The supreme court ruled on Thursday to allow Texas to use a redrawn that adds as many as five Republican-friendly congressional districts. Texas had redrawn its congressional map this summer as part of an effort that Donald Trump initiated to protect Republicans’ slim majority in the House ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
-
A federal vaccine advisory panel is expected to vote on Friday whether to change the longstanding recommendation that all newborns be immunized against hepatitis B. The panel advises the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
-
A grand jury declined to indict Letitia James on Thursday, less than two weeks after judge ruled similar case against New York attorney general unlawful. James has been one of Trump’s top political foes ever since she successfully brought a fraud lawsuit against him in New York.
-
A man was arrested for planting pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic party headquarters on the eve of the January 6 insurrection.
-
A federal appeals court sided with the Trump administration on Thursday and paused a lower court’s order to end the administration’s deployment of national guard troops in Washington DC.
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