Part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget for the upcoming year could be withheld if he doesn’t release the unedited video of strikes against an alleged drug boat in Venezuela to Congress.
Tucked into the must-pass defense and national security package is a provision that would reduce how much the Defense secretary could spend on travel if he does not provide video of the strikes to the designated House and Senate committees responsible for overseeing the military. If the footage is not handed over, about 25% of the total travel budget will be withheld, according to language in the National Defense Authorization Act.
The measure was negotiated between House and Senate lawmakers, and it was quietly included in the final version of the NDAA, almost ensuring its passage. The House is expected to vote on the NDAA on Wednesday, according to the vote schedule obtained by the Deseret News, and the Senate is expected to quickly follow.
The provision comes amid mounting criticism against Hegseth for approving a double-tap strike against an alleged Venezuelan drug boat on Sept. 2, prompting calls for an investigation into whether the second strike that killed the initial survivors was illegal.
Hegseth has defended the strikes, backing a Navy admiral’s decision to initiate a second strike. However, the Defense secretary has denied releasing video footage of the attack.
President Donald Trump last week said he would have “no problem” releasing the video, but he walked those comments back when pressed on the issue during a White House roundtable on Monday.
“I didn’t say that. You said that,” Trump said in response to a question from ABC News. “I didn’t say that. This is ABC fake news.”
Some senators viewed the footage during a classified briefing with top Defense officials last week, but lawmakers emerged from the meeting with different conclusions — with some Republicans arguing the Trump administration was justified in its strike while Democrats said the footage contradicts how the White House described it.
The NDAA language includes other requirements for Hegseth to fulfill before his full travel budget can be released, mostly pertaining to the publication of “overdue quarterly reports” as well as reports on “the lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.”