When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior officials walked into the Gang of Eight briefing, hardworking Americans expected straight answers about our military’s actions to stop narco-terrorism on the high seas. Instead, Sen. Chuck Schumer emerged calling the session “very unsatisfying,” a predictable performance from the same Democrats who reflexively reflexively weaponize oversight when politics suits them. The public deserves clarity, but they also deserve leaders who won’t play politics with troops and border security.
According to officials present, Hegseth told congressional leaders he was still weighing whether to release the unedited video of a September strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel — telling Schumer the decision required more study rather than an immediate blanket release. That exchange — and Hegseth’s insistence on protecting classified information — is the kind of measured, sober judgment the Pentagon should be allowed to exercise instead of being lectured by politicians. Americans can support transparency and still expect the Department of Defense to protect sources, methods, and lives on the line.
Let’s be clear: Republicans in Congress are right to demand accountability after receiving only a trickle of information from the Pentagon, but accountability cannot mean instant, televised grandstanding that jeopardizes operations. The more important question is whether the Biden-era and now this administration’s narrow obsession with headlines has hamstrung commanders on the decks of our ships trying to intercept poison bound for American streets. Patriots want results — fewer drugs and safer communities — and we will back leaders who deliver, not those who posture for cameras.
Reports that a follow-up strike may have killed survivors clinging to wreckage are deeply troubling and deserve a full, sober review under the law of armed conflict — not lefty outrage aimed at undermining any forceful action against transnational cartels. Legal and military experts are already weighing the facts, and Congress has a duty to get the unedited evidence and the authorizing orders so Americans can judge for themselves what happened. If mistakes were made, they must be fixed; if operations were lawful, Washington’s perpetual critics owe the troops an apology.
Meanwhile, the same political class that scolds the Pentagon for not leaking will gladly cheer when local Democrats flip previously conservative turf. That dynamic was on display in Miami, where Democrat Eileen Higgins won the mayoral runoff, undoing nearly three decades of GOP control of City Hall in a city that has been a national bellwether. Voters sent a message about local concerns — affordability and quality-of-life — but national Democrats will spin this as a referendum on Trump and on conservative policies even where local issues drove turnout.
Conservatives should both respect the will of Miami voters and sound the alarm about what a national political class does with local victories: they double down on open-borders rhetoric and soft-on-crime policies that hauled in camps of problems for cities. President Trump’s endorsement of the Republican candidate didn’t carry the day in Miami, but that doesn’t mean border security and law-and-order priorities are dead; it means conservatives must sharpen messaging and show how our policies improve everyday life. Now is the time for grassroots patriots to organize, win local school boards and city commissions, and keep the pressure on both national security and local governance.
At the end of the day, proud Americans want two things: a military capable of decisively stopping drug barges before they become drug shipments on our streets, and local leaders who deliver safer, more affordable communities. Demand the unedited truth from the Pentagon where appropriate, but don’t let partisan performance art replace sober oversight. Roll up your sleeves, hold both parties to account, and push for policies that secure our borders, support our servicemembers, and restore safety and common sense to our cities.
