Hegseth, Rubio expected back on Capitol Hill as questions mount over boat strikes

Washington: President Donald Trump’s top Cabinet officials overseeing national security are expected back on Capitol Hill on Tuesday as questions mount over the swift escalation of US military force and deadly boat strikes in international waters near Venezuela.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others are set to brief members of the House and the Senate amid congressional investigations into a military strike

in September that killed two survivors of an initial attack on a boat allegedly carrying cocaine in the Caribbean. Lawmakers have been examining the Sept. 2 attack as they sift through the rationale for a broader US military buildup in the region that increasingly appears pointed at Venezuela.

On the eve of the briefings, the US military said late Monday it attacked three more boats believed to have been smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing eight people.

“We have thousands of troops and our largest aircraft carrier in the Caribbean — but zero, zero explanation for what Trump is trying to accomplish,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

The closed-door sessions come as the US is building up warships, flying fighter jets near Venezuelan airspace and seizing an oil tanker as part of its campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has insisted the real purpose of the US military operations is to force

him from office.