The American Civil Liberties Union stopped short of endorsing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s impeachment, but it gave Congress a stark assessment of his role in a lethal U.S. campaign against boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

In a letter sent Monday to every House member, the civil liberties group said it generally does not take positions on the appointment, impeachment or removal of government officials. It nevertheless described the strikes as “simply murders, authorized directly by Secretary Hegseth.”

The letter arrived as Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, pursued eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth. One article addresses the boat strikes as extrajudicial killings; others concern the Iran war, the operation involving Nicolás Maduro and alleged retaliation against Sen. Mark Kelly. The ACLU said those matters also warrant congressional attention.

On Tuesday, the House voted 211-204 to refer the articles to the Judiciary Committee rather than proceed directly to an impeachment debate. Hegseth called the effort a “farce” and a “political spectacle.”

The ACLU said the United States has carried out at least 72 strikes over roughly a year, killing at least 244 people. The group argues that, because there is no declared armed conflict or congressional authorization, the administration cannot lawfully rely on the laws of war to justify the killings. Its letter said Hegseth bears “direct operational authority and command responsibility” for the campaign.

Among the incidents cited was a September 2, 2025 strike followed by a second attack that killed two survivors clinging to wreckage. The Washington Post reported that Hegseth had given a spoken order to “kill everybody.” Hegseth has said he watched the first strike but did not “stick around” for the second.

The administration has cited a confidential Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel memorandum as the legal basis for the campaign. The memo, signed by Elliot Gaiser, reportedly concludes that the strikes are lawful and shields participants from future prosecution. Gaiser has since been nominated to a lifetime federal judgeship.

The ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the New York Civil Liberties Union sued to obtain the memo under the Freedom of Information Act. In September, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer rejected most of the government’s privilege claims, finding that the Defense Department had adopted the memo’s reasoning as binding. He ordered the government to provide it for his review and, on October 27, denied a request to reconsider.

A separate lawsuit in Massachusetts seeks accountability for Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, whom their families say were killed in an October 14, 2025 strike while returning to Trinidad after fishing and farm work in Venezuela. The case was brought by the ACLU, its Massachusetts affiliate and the Center for Constitutional Rights.