Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly clashed during a classified Senate briefing on Tuesday on recent US boat strikes in the Carribbean.
The exchange allegedly turned heated after Hegseth referenced lawful versus unlawful orders while responding to Kelly’s questions, according to three senators, per Punchbowl.
Kelly, who was seated in the front row, pressed Hegseth for details about the boat strike operations. Hegseth responded by invoking the distinction between lawful and unlawful orders, a line of argument that appeared to reference an ongoing Defense Department investigation into a video Kelly recorded with other Democratic lawmakers. The Pentagon is investigating Kelly and his colleagues over the video in which they urged members of the military not to follow unlawful orders.
As Hegseth began criticizing Kelly over the video, the Arizonan interrupted him, saying his question had nothing to do with that matter, according to the senators present.
The Tuesday briefing from Hegseth as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio came as lawmakers pushed for increased transparency about the tactics and the goals of the military mission that has included consistent strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.
Speaking with reporters, Republican Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana called the process used in the Venezuela strikes ‘legally sound’ after being briefed on the September strikes.
‘It’s been supported by legal opinions for a quarter century,’ Sheehy also noted.
Contrastingly, Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the administration came ’empty-handed’ to the briefing while continuing to call for ‘full transparency’ about the operation.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives for a closed door meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on December 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. Rubio and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth are headed back to Capitol Hill to speak with lawmakers as questions mount about strikes carried out by the U.S. military on suspected drug boats out of Venezuela ordered by the Trump Administration
Grab from a video shared December 15th, 2025 by United States Southern Command on X of another lethal kinetic strike on three vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth walks to the auditorium to brief members of Congress on military strikes near Venezuela at the Capitol, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington
Senator Lindsey Graham also added that Hegseth and Rubio did not provide details about what the White House’s plan is for dealing with Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
‘It was confusing… I want to know what’s going to happen next. Is it the policy to take Maduro down? It should be if it’s not,’ Graham noted Tuesday.
Further briefings are scheduled for tomorrow with the House and Senate Armed Services committees, where members holding top-level security clearances will view the controversial double-strike video — footage denied to their congressional colleagues and the American public.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed top Senate leaders last week on the boat strikes but did not show the September 2 video, which captured a second attack that some analysts and lawmakers believe violated international law.
At least 95 people have been killed across 25 US strikes on 26 vessels, yet the government has declined to present evidence proving the targets were engaged in drug trafficking.
The administration has also failed to explain why the boats could not have been stopped and boarded for investigation, or why those on board could not have been apprehended and prosecuted rather than killed without trial.
