Overview
- The Navy admiral transferred authority to Air Force Lt. Gen. Evan Pettus during a Friday ceremony at U.S. Southern Command headquarters near Miami.
- Multiple U.S. officials told Reuters that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for Holsey’s departure, though Holsey told lawmakers his retirement was a personal decision.
- The U.S. Coast Guard seized a tanker carrying Venezuelan crude this week in the first interdiction under existing sanctions, and Reuters reported the United States is preparing to intercept more ships.
- Bipartisan committees are probing more than 20 strikes on suspected drug boats that have killed at least 87 people, with legal experts highlighting prohibitions on attacking shipwrecked or incapacitated persons.
- The administration is labeling cartels “narcoterrorists” under a Monroe Doctrine–style strategy supported by a regional naval buildup and renewed training deployments in Panama.