In a bipartisan move, Congress has added a provision to its annual military expenditures bill that would require the Department of Defense to release video of the “double tap” — or second deadly missile strike — on a boat in the Caribbean that was suspected of smuggling drugs.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been accused of stonewalling Congress on its release. And while President Donald Trump told a reporter last week that the full video would be made public, he has since walked that back and even denied he said he would release the video.
Over the weekend, the House Armed Services Committee released the text for the National Defense Authorization Act, which lays out the policies for the coming year. Typically, it includes a boost in military pay and lays the groundwork for the annual defense spending bill.
Given its national security implications, it is considered a “must-pass” bill, and members often slip in partisan amendments that they know would have little chance of passing otherwise. The NDAA also must overcome a filibuster, meaning that it can only pass on a bipartisan basis.
The new bill has a provision that would stipulate that Hegseth’s office would only receive 75 percent of its annual travel expenses until the secretary “provides to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command.”
That’s not the only string attached.
The bill also would requre that Hegseth submit a report to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on efforts by the Pentagon to “identify, disseminate, and implement” lessons from the war in Ukraine.
Hegseth has received criticism from all sides for his handling of the deadly September boat strike in the Caribbean, especially after it was learned that another strike was launched on apparent survivors of the initial strikes as they clung for life to the capsized wreckage.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, last week called the video “one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.” The Trump administration said it struck the boat because it was bound for the United States and had drugs on it.
Hegseth has faced accusations that after the initial strike, he reportedly said to “kill everybody” according to a report from The Washington Post that has been refuted by the White House.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul told The Independent last week that he wanted to see Hegseth testify before Congress and called for the whole video to be released.
“I think if the public sees images of people clinging to boat debris and being blown up, I think that there is a chance that, finally, the public will get interested enough in this to stop this,” he said.
In addition to those provisions and a 3.8 percent pay raise for service members, the bill also includes contentious social policy and national security policy.
Despite Trump’s continued “America First” isolationist rhetoric, the legislation requires that the number of troops stationed or deployed in the European Command area to not go below 76,000. It also includes $400 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative for fiscal year 2026 and $300 million for fiscal year 2027.
The bill would prohibit transgender athletes to compete in sports designated for women and girls at the United States Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Democratic members also accused House Speaker Mike Johnson of stripping out provisions that would include coverage for in vitro fertilization for servicemembers.
“Trump claimed on the campaign trail that he’d make IVF free for all Americans, creepily declaring himself the ‘father of IVF,’” Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who used IVF to have her children.
“Well, he proved he’s a deadbeat dad by not only failing to make IVF free for anyone but standing by as Speaker Johnson undermined one of his key campaign promises and stripped coverage from servicemembers behind closed doors that both the House and Senate approved. Shame on them.”
