Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, has been directing U.S. strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats through the Homeland Security Council, The Guardian reported Monday. His role at times surpassed that of Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio’s, raising legal questions about the campaign’s authority and oversight.
Miller leads the Homeland Security Council (HSC), which became a separate entity during President Donald Trump’s second term, rather than being part of the National Security Council (NSC).
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Miller’s deputy Tony Salisbury and others have controlled targeting information, sources told the Guardian. In the Sept. 15 strike, the Pentagon selected a boat days ahead, but some senior officials were briefed only hours before.
How are the strikes justified?
Miller has described Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro as the head of a “drug cartel.” He argued the regime functions as a “narco-trafficking organization.”
However, the White House has said Trump directs the actions.
“The entire administration is working together to execute the president’s directive with clear success,” a spokesperson told The Guardian.
Officials have cited Trump’s designation of the Tren de Aragua gang as a foreign terrorist organization.
That label was also used earlier this year to defend deportations of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act, framing cartel activity as a “predatory incursion” by a foreign power. But a divided federal appeals court ruled Sept. 2 that those deportations were unlawful because the administration had not shown the group was an arm of the Maduro government.
What legal concerns are raised?
Legal specialists quoted by The Guardian said the administration must demonstrate that Tren de Aragua functions as part of Venezuela’s state apparatus to sustain the president’s claimed self-defense authority for military action.
Pentagon General Counsel Earl Matthews, the Justice Department and the White House Counsel’s Office cleared the legal theory, according to the Guardian.
Neither the HSC nor NSC has a dedicated in-house legal adviser after a spring restructuring.
Critics describe the boat strikes as potential extrajudicial killings at sea. The campaign involves the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale. This includes about 4,500 sailors, plus the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit of roughly 2,200 Marines, The Guardian reported.
