Congress is working to withhold part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's travel budget until the Pentagon releases footage of the strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela. CBS News congressional correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns has more.

Washington

Congress is advancing a defense spending bill exceeding $900 billion, which contains a provision requiring the Pentagon to release video footage of U.S. boat strikes on alleged drug boats near Venezuela. If the footage is not provided to lawmakers, a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's travel budget will be withheld. 

The provision was unexpectedly included in the bipartisan bill, prompting questions from lawmakers about the administration's policy on such operations. While top committee members have been briefed, many in Congress are still seeking access to the video and further clarification on whether these actions constitute acts of war and require Congressional involvement.

Defense bill would limit Pentagon travel funds until footage released

As Congress works to pass a bill authorizing more than 900 billion dollars in defense spending, there is a provision inside the act targeted at getting video of U.S. boat strikes on alleged drug boats near Venezuela. The bottom line, until lawmakers get their hands on that video, part of Defense Secretary's Pete Hegseth's travel budget will be withheld. CBS News Congressional Correspondent Caitlin Huey Burns is live from Capitol Hill. So, Caitlin, that provision raised some eyebrows. So what are lawmakers saying about the bill on the Hill? Well, Reid, here's the thing with a bill that's over 900, nearly 900 pages long, things are going to get tucked in. And this is one of them. This was something that was not necessarily expected, but has made it into a bipartisan version of this bill. This is nearly a trillion dollars in Pentagon spending. And this bill is passed every year. It's one of the few bipartisan bills that Capitol Hill produces. And it usually flies through with bipartisan support. It essentially directs all of the Pentagon policy, as well as what to do with the funding it is allocating towards the Pentagon. And tucked in there is a provision that says that they will withhold about a quarter of the secretary's travel budget if he does not release the tapes of that Venezuela boat strike to members of Congress. Now, you may remember, Reid, that last week, top members of various committees were given briefings by Admiral Bradley, the person that was in charge of those strikes. But there are questions that remain among rank and file members who also want to see that video evidence. So, if this passes this week, as it is expected to do, though there could be some logistical hurdles, we're waiting to see whether this gets through the House, that provision could prompt the Pentagon to release these tapes. So, we're also learning, Caitlin, that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is going to brief lawmakers in the so-called Gang of Eight. Remind our viewers what the Gang of Eight is, and who called that meeting, and what do you look for out of that? Yeah, Reid, so the Gang of Eight up here includes the top leaders of both parties in both chambers on the Hill. So, think of Speaker Johnson, Akeem Jeffries, and various leaders in both parties, as well as the chairman and ranking member of the Intelligence Committee in both the House and the Senate. This is a group that typically gets the most highly secured information. So, they had not been briefed last week about these Venezuelan boat strikes. So, they are going to hear from the Defense Secretary himself, as well as Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State. And a lot of lawmakers want to know what the general policy is in terms of these boat strikes. And, Reid, it was fascinating last week to be standing outside of that secure room where lawmakers were getting those briefings from the admiral in charge there, and they were coming away with very different impressions of what they saw in the video and information they were given from him. Most Republicans came out of that saying that they were on board with Hegseth's decision and the policy at large, Democrats a lot more skeptical. So, it essentially fell on partisan lines. We'll see if that is the same today. But you have questions about those strikes in particular on September 2nd that we were covering last week. But you also have questions about what the policy is from this administration when it comes to targeting these boats. And the bigger question that lawmakers up here have is, are we at war? What constitutes a war? And if so, whether Congress needs and should weigh in. Caitlin, watching it all, thank you so much for being with us today on CBS News 24-7.

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