The Democrat set to take charge of the House Armed Services Committee has promised a full investigation into the Trump administration's lethal strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific, and says the new Congress will vote to cut off funding for the campaign.

Representative Adam Smith of Washington, who is due to become chairman of the committee when the new Congress is sworn in on 3 January, made the pledge in an interview with The New Republic's Greg Sargent, published on 6 November and highlighted in updates on Monday 9 November.

Asked whether there would be a deep and serious investigation into how the bombing campaign came into existence, Smith replied: "Yes, we are going to attempt to do that. Absolutely." Asked whether defunding the strikes was an option, he again answered: "Yes."

More than 200 people killed

The United States has killed at least 243 people in more than 70 strikes on vessels it says were carrying drugs since the campaign began in September 2025, according to a tally published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research on Monday. The most recent strike was on 4 October.

The administration says the boats belonged to designated terrorist organisations. Critics, including Smith, say little or no evidence has been released to show the people killed were drug smugglers, and note that the strikes replaced the usual practice of stopping boats at sea, arresting crews and putting them on trial.

In a statement marking one year of the campaign, published on 2 September, Smith said more than 200 people had been killed in over 60 strikes. He pointed to one strike in which survivors clinging to the wreckage of their boat were killed in a follow-up attack, and said the administration had shown "a staggering lack of transparency" about its use of lethal force.

UN warning over the strikes

Ben Saul, the United Nations special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, has warned that the strikes may amount to crimes against humanity. The warning adds to pressure on Washington to explain the legal basis for treating suspected smugglers as enemy fighters rather than criminal suspects.

Smith said the committee would seek to establish the justification for the strikes, and would press the Pentagon to release its internal investigation into the bombing of a girls' school in Iran, using subpoena powers if necessary. He also said Democrats would try to pass a measure stating that no funds are authorised for boat strikes in Latin America, and then face down a presidential veto.

How Congress could stop the strikes

With Democrats having won control of both chambers in the 3 November midterm elections, they will hold the committee gavels and the power of the purse from January. Brian Finucane, a former State Department legal adviser, told Foreign Policy that Democrats could aim to shut down the strikes by attaching a funding ban to must-pass legislation.

Smith warned the fight would be difficult. "It's going to be an ugly fight between Congress and the executive branch for the next two years," he said.

The pledge comes as the House prepares to vote on impeachment articles against Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, which cite the boat strikes among their charges. Representative Thomas Massie reintroduced the eight-article resolution on Monday 9 November, and a vote is expected by Wednesday 11 November. Smith has pledged his support for the impeachment effort.

For now, the strikes themselves have paused: no new attack has been reported since 4 October. Whether they resume may depend on how far the new Congress is willing to go to stop them.