
President Donald Trump has in the past month ordered the lethal bombing of two fishing boats in the Caribbean which he said carried drugs and Venezuelan drug dealers — he labeled them “terrorists” — and which he said were heading to the United States.
The deadly attacks, executed by the U.S. military, marked a departure from traditional interdiction of ships suspected of smuggling drugs in international waters. In the past, U.S. authorities (from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard) board such vessels, seize the drugs and identify suspects to build a criminal case.
Note: BBC News reported that since the U.S. is not engaged in war with Venezuela, the strike, a death sentence without due process, “runs afoul of the right to life under international human rights law.”
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate rejected a measure to stop President Trump from unilaterally striking Venezuelan boats, 48-51. The failed resolution directed “the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities that have not been authorized by Congress.”
BREAKING: The Senate rejects a measure to stop Trump from unilaterally striking Venezuelan boats, 48-51.
Fetterman voted No.
Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski voted Yes.
— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) October 9, 2025
Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) was the only Democrat to vote to reject the curb on such bombings. Two Republicans, Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), voted with the Democrats.
Sen. Paul, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, spoke out against the first attack.
He said: “We assume these people were bad people and drug dealers, but if they were caught off the coast of Miami, we would stop the boat. They don’t shoot at us, we don’t shoot at them, they’re confiscated, they’re put in jail, and they go through a trial to prove what they were doing.”
He added, “Sometimes you have to figure out who people are before you kill them.”
This week, Paul wrote an op-ed for Reason titled, ‘The Constitution Does Not Allow the President To Unilaterally Blow Suspected Drug Smugglers to Smithereens.’