And now for a moment of clarity.

Pete Hegseth, I think, is reckless at the helm of the Pentagon and what damage he might be able to do in that period of time.

Lord only knows. And I think it gets to the importance of real accountability here for us in the Congress to exercise, but not for our own sake, for the American people. That's what they expect of us. And that's exactly why we need a full investigation in the Armed Services Committee. I think both the House and the Senate have to dig in here. We got to hear from everyone involved what they knew, what those orders look like, and who was in the room. And they've got to come in and talk to us and get us answers so that we can get answers to the American people. You know, Congressman, one really

important aspect of this was brought to my attention. And we're not talking about it because

the way, the way would really happen if it was happening the correct way is different from what it is.

And the point being, I talked to a U.S. Coast Guard, a gentleman who, an former officer,

who's had direct experience in boarding and arresting suspects in the Caribbean. And his contention

is, you know, that authority is set out in 14 U.S.C. 89, and you know exactly what you have to do, what the process is to get

on the boat. If the administration had just done that, it just followed the procedure and the

process, not putting our military in harm's way in that regard, not subjecting admirals and

officers to this kind of scrutiny, political scrutiny.

We would be in a very different place because our Coast Guard is built to do that because that's

what they do. They interdict on the waters, right? That's their game. On the high seas, as I like to say,

Simone, they're out there doing their thing.

Congress now, I think, should remind or has the opportunity to remind the president of, we have a coast guard for what you're requiring our military to do.

We have police in our cities to do what you are having our military do. Can we clarify for the

American people and for this president exactly what the roles are here? Because this is not, I mean,

it's written down. Well, it should be that hard. And look, the Navy and the military in general

can assist in those interdiction

missions. We have clear guardrails around that and laws that allow for the military to assist.

But let's remember here, there hasn't been a congressional authorization for strikes into Venezuela.

Catch Michael Steele on the weeknight, Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern on MS now.

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