Bipartisan leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the Pentagon has for weeks withheld directives and legal justification for strikes on marine vessels the Trump administration says are carrying drugs. Senators Roger Wicker and Jack Reed released letters to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after a missed legal deadline, amid frustration over briefings that excluded Senate Democrats and omitted military legal experts. The strikes have killed at least 61 people. U.S. officials have identified potential targets in Venezuela, but Trump denied considering such attacks, as the USS Gerald R. Ford heads toward the region.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.