Brace yourselves, patriots—bipartisan momentum is surging in the Senate to pry open the Pentagon’s vault and release unedited footage of controversial Caribbean boat strikes.
According to Fox News, as of Dec. 12, 2025, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are rallying behind a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to compel the release of full videos, especially of a deadly double strike on Sept. 2, 2025, amid growing scrutiny of the Trump administration’s actions against alleged drug boats from Venezuela.
Let’s rewind to Sept. 2, 2025, when a double-tap strike in the Caribbean Sea on a suspected drug vessel turned fatal, igniting fierce debate on Capitol Hill about the administration’s repeated operations in the region over recent months.
Fast forward to the current legislative battle—a provision tucked into the sprawling NDAA would force the Pentagon to hand over unedited footage of these Caribbean strikes, tied to fully funding Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s travel budget.
Interestingly, no one seems to know who slipped this measure into the massive defense package, though Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) hinted it likely came from top leadership.
The NDAA cleared the House on Dec. 11, 2025, and now faces Senate procedural hurdles starting Dec. 15, 2025, with many lawmakers eager to see the Sept. 2, 2025, strike footage released at least to Congress.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), from the Armed Services Committee, insists his panel, and possibly the Senate Intelligence Committee, should get full access to the raw videos before deciding next steps.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), also on the committee, backs the provision, pointing out that Hegseth and the Pentagon have already shared partial clips, raising questions about why the rest remains under wraps. Even Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) chimes in, arguing there’s no reason to delay the broader defense bill over this and stressing the need for transparency on these operations.
Earlier in the week of Dec. 12, 2025, the elite “Gang of Eight”—key congressional leaders and intelligence committee heads—sat down with Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a briefing on the strikes.
While Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) stayed mum on the discussion, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called it “very unsatisfying,” demanding that all of Congress see the unedited Sept. 2, 2025, footage.
Schumer recounted, “I asked Secretary Hegseth whether he would let every member of Congress see unedited videos of the Sept. 2 strike. His answer was, ‘We have to study it well.’” Frankly, that sounds like a stall tactic—studying is fine, but taxpayers deserve answers, not endless delays.
Some Republicans, like Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), support public release of the videos but urge focus on the bigger picture, saying, “We’re losing sight of the most important narrative. More Americans have died of illegal drugs in the last seven years than in World War I, World War II and Vietnam combined.”
Daines has a point—while transparency matters, the devastating toll of drug trafficking is the real enemy, and strikes like these, however messy, aim to disrupt that deadly flow.
Still, as this bipartisan push grows, it’s a rare moment of Senate unity against bureaucratic stonewalling, reminding us that accountability isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a duty, especially when American lives and credibility are on the line.