Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced intense questioning from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee over U.S. policy in the Western Hemisphere on Wednesday, with a spotlight on the Trump-era operation that ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and brought drug criminals to justice.
Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois spent her time pressing Rubio on the alleged torturing of deported immigrants, claiming the administration had overstepped its authority by using wartime powers on domestic soil, an area she implied belonged in the purview of Congress.
Rubio was quick to shut her down, arguing that all of those who have been deported, and the narco-terrorists the Trump administration is fighting, are threats to national security, and therefore fall under a "war-like setting" that justifies using the Alien Enemies Act without declaring formal war on Venezuela.
"The president invoked the Alien Enemies Act," Sen. Duckworth said. "It's a very clear wartime power."
"Let me be clear with you," Rubio replied. "What the president was talking about are these gangs, and these narco-trafficking groups that are waging war on the United States. There is no doubt these groups have waged war on the United States. For example, Tren De Aragua is not just a criminal gang presence in our streets; it is a criminal gang directly responsible for narco trafficking."
"The Trump administration has acknowledged that the vast majority of the men it rounded up and deported to torture under this law had no criminal records whatsoever," Duckworth went on. "Independent..."
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"We didn't torture anybody."
"Seventy-five percent," Duckworth replied.
"Who did we torture?. We haven't tortured anybody. We've arrested people that are members of gangs and we've deported them. We don't want gang members in our country."
"Independent investigations have found that many of the men were here legally," Duckworth read from her notes. "If the administration is willing to lie about who it's targeting under this law, what protections do totally innocent people have against abuse. Again, I want to ask you, will you advise the president to recind his invocation of the wartime Alien Enemies Act?"
"No, of course not," the Secretary of State replied. "I mean, these are people that are threats to the national security of the United States. I've described this in hearings in the past, including before you guys..."
"So you are saying that we are at war?" Sen. Duckworth asked.
"When it comes to narco-trafficking groups and criminal gangs that are targeting the United States for criminal activity..."
"So we are in a state of war."
"There is no doubt about the fact that we are confronting them in a war-like setting because..."
"So do the laws of war apply under the Geneva Convention?"
"They are waging war against us, and they are enemy combatants as a result of it," Rubio said. "And the fact of the matter is that we are confronting these irregular groups, and that is one of the challenges of the new century in this hemisphere in particular, is that these non-state actors who possess state-like capabilities in terms of their weaponry pose a great danger to the United States. I don't think any American would dispute that we have cartels that pose a threat to the national security of the United States."
"Will the president comply with all of the other laws when it comes to warfare?" Duckworth asked again. "I mean, you're saying that he can invoke this wartime power."
"No, I'm here to discuss foreign policy and what's in the realm of the Department of State," Rubio replied. "I think your questions are better directed at the Department of Justice."
Sen. Duckworth continued to hammer Rubio with the same question, arguing the act had only ever been invoked during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II.
"You are asking me a question about the domestic application of a law that is best directed at the Department of Justice," Rubio said. "You are asking me to opine on something that is in the realm of the Department of Justice in terms of its domestic application. I can tell you that the United States is most certainly confronting terrorist and criminal organizations operating in our hemisphere that pose a grave danger to the United States."
Anyone who believes that gangs that flood our country with fentanyl or cocaine are no threats to the United States is not living in reality and certainly does not reflect the opinion of most Americans," Rubio said.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES, MARCO RUBIO UNLEASHED. Dem Sen. Tammy Duckworth is stunned!
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 28, 2026
"ANYONE who believes that gangs that flood our country with fentanyl or cocaine are not threats to the United States is NOT LIVING IN REALITY and CERTAINLY does not reflect the opinion of most… pic.twitter.com/BxHASahA3v
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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