Overview
- Republicans defeated the measure 51–49, with Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski breaking ranks as Susan Collins and Thom Tillis ultimately voted with their party.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a Caribbean strike destroyed a vessel and killed three men, posting a short video but offering no proof the target carried drugs.
- Flight data showed two B-52s tracing Venezuela’s coastline on Thursday as eight U.S. warships and multiple combat aircraft stay positioned in the region, with the carrier Gerald R. Ford en route.
- Since early September, U.S. forces have attacked boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, with at least 67 people reported killed, and rights critics call the killings extrajudicial given the lack of public evidence.
- Internal U.S. documents reported by the Washington Post indicate Venezuela sought 1,000‑kilometer‑range drones from Iran and asked Russia and China for broader military cooperation.