Senate eyes Hegseth travel cuts without probes into Iran school bombing, boat strikes

Senate lawmakers are pushing to restrict Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s travel spending until he provides lawmakers with a civilian harm investigation into the February bombing of an Iranian girls’ school and unedited video footage of the Latin American boat strikes.

The Senate Armed Services Committee included a provision in its version of fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act that would reduce funding for Hegseth’s travel to no more than 25% until the committee receives what lawmakers describe as overdue reports and supporting documents.

The committee approved its version of the NDAA last week in an 18-9 vote, sending the bill to the full Senate. House lawmakers advanced their version the week prior.

The provision cuts Hegseth’s travel funding by 75% until the committee receives the civilian harm investigations for three separate 2025 Yemen strikes and the February strike on the girls’ school in Minab, Iran.

On Feb. 28, the first day of the Iran war , a school in southern Iran was struck by a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile, killing at least 165 people, most of them schoolgirls.

President Donald Trump claimed that Iran could have obtained the missile, despite questions about how Tehran would have gained access. The strike has been under investigation by the Pentagon since March.

Speaking on Wednesday in France, Trump was asked about the investigation and whether anyone in the Trump administration would be held accountable.

“It’s such a strange question to be asked at this state because you’re talking about a long time ago, but nobody did that on purpose,” he said in response.

“Mistakes are made. War is nasty. But I know it’s under investigation, and I could have a report for you tomorrow. I would ask Pete Hegseth that question because they have it under investigation,” he concluded.

Another provision in the Senate NDAA moved to prohibit the use of military funds for the operations against Iran without congressional authorization and restricted travel funding for Hegseth’s office until lawmakers submit a report on how the Iran war has impacted readiness. The amendment failed to pass in a 13-14 vote.

Unedited video of strikes conducted by U.S. Southern Command on terrorist organizations that were allegedly smuggling drugs in Latin American waters would also need to be submitted.

Since September 2025, the U.S. military has conducted strikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that they alleged were carrying drugs.

As of June 16, the military has disclosed 64 strikes that have killed at least 191 people.

The committee is also seeking information about the Defense Department procedures for notifying Congress about sensitive military operations.

Lawmakers have previously criticized Hegseth over congressional oversight following reports that a special operations team attacked survivors of an alleged drug-smuggling vessel strike off Venezuela’s coast in September 2025.

Hegseth refused to publicly release footage of the attack, instead only showing members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee.

The provision would also require the unredacted investigation by U.S. Special Operations Command into Operation Absolution Resolve , the U.S. military operation executed on Jan. 20 to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Senate lawmakers also requested a certification that shows contractor support for clandestine and intelligence activities and a report on support to Ukraine required under last year’s NDAA.

Cristina Stassis is a reporter covering stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She previously worked as an editorial fellow for Defense News in 2024 where she assisted the newsroom in breaking news across Sightline Media Group.

参议院议员们正努力限制国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯的差旅开支，直到他向议员们提供一份关于2月份伊朗女子学校爆炸案造成平民伤害的调查报告，以及拉丁美洲船只袭击事件的未经剪辑的视频片段。

参议院军事委员会在其 2027 财年国防授权法案版本中加入了一项条款，规定在委员会收到议员们所说的逾期报告和支持文件之前，将 Hegseth 的差旅经费削减至不超过 25%。

上周，委员会以18比9的投票结果通过了其版本的《国防授权法案》，并将该法案提交参议院全体会议审议。众议院议员在前一周也通过了他们的版本。

该条款将赫格塞斯的差旅经费削减 75%，直到委员会收到 2025 年三起也门袭击事件和 2 月份伊朗米纳布女子学校袭击事件的平民伤害调查报告为止。

2月28日，伊朗战争爆发的第一天，伊朗南部一所学校遭到美国战斧巡航导弹袭击，造成至少165人死亡，其中大部分是女学生。

尽管人们对德黑兰如何获得导弹存在疑问，但唐纳德·特朗普总统声称伊朗可能获得了这枚导弹。自3月份以来，五角大楼一直在对此次袭击事件进行调查。

周三在法国发表讲话时，特朗普被问及这项调查，以及特朗普政府中是否有人会被追究责任。

“在这种场合问这个问题很奇怪，因为这是很久以前的事了，但没有人是故意这么做的，”他回应道。

“错误在所难免。战争是残酷的。但我知道这件事正在调查中，我明天就能给你一份报告。我会去问皮特·赫格塞斯这个问题，因为他们正在调查此事，”他总结道。

参议院国防授权法案的另一项条款旨在禁止未经国会授权将军事资金用于针对伊朗的军事行动，并限制赫格塞斯办公室的差旅经费，直至议员们提交一份关于伊朗战争如何影响战备的报告。该修正案以13比14的投票结果未能获得通过。

还需要提交美国南方司令部对据称在拉丁美洲水域走私毒品的恐怖组织进行打击的未经剪辑的视频。

自 2025 年 9 月以来，美国军方对加勒比海和东太平洋的船只进行了袭击，他们声称这些船只运载毒品。

截至6月16日，军方已公布64起空袭事件，造成至少191人死亡。

委员会还希望了解国防部向国会通报敏感军事行动的程序。

此前有报道称，一支特种作战小组于 2025 年 9 月袭击了委内瑞拉海岸附近一艘疑似走私毒品船只的幸存者，议员们曾批评赫格塞斯在国会监督方面存在失职。

赫格塞斯拒绝公开袭击事件的录像，而只向众议院和参议院军事委员会的成员展示了录像。

该条款还将要求美国特种作战司令部对“赦免决心行动”（Operation Absolution Resolve）进行未经删减的调查，该行动是美国于 1 月 20 日执行的旨在抓捕委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗的军事行动。

参议院议员还要求提供一份证明承包商支持秘密和情报活动的证明文件，以及一份关于去年《国防授权法案》要求的对乌克兰的支持报告。

克里斯蒂娜·斯塔西斯是一位记者，主要报道国防工业、国家安全、军事/退伍军人事务等领域的新闻。她曾于2024年在《防务新闻》担任编辑助理，协助Sightline媒体集团旗下新闻编辑室处理突发新闻。