As reported in The Daily Beast, The Senate Armed Services Committee has responded to a Washington Post report that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth likely committed a war crime when he ordered the murder of civilians clinging to wreckage after surviving his first military strike on a fishing boat in the Caribbean.

On Friday, Republican chair Sen. Roger Wicker and ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, issued a joint statement, saying, “The Committee has directed inquiries to the Department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”

Sure, it’s possible that Wicker, an Air Force veteran, is so personally horrified by the news, and it’s possible he’s facing a such huge backlash from his constituents and donors that he’ll actually do something meaningful, but don’t hold your breath.

For one thing, The Daily Beast points out it’s not clear what the committee can do. TDB noted, “In the weeks following the attack, President Trump, 79, attempted to retroactively insulate those responsible from legal consequences by informing Congress that the U.S. was in a ‘non-international armed conflict’ with ‘designated terrorist organizations,’ and therefore those who killed suspected narcotics traffickers would be exempt from criminal prosecution.”

Unless Wicker and Reed make big, public moves, with big, public hearings, their “vigorous oversight” will probably go nowhere. Which may well be what Wicker wants.

Hegseth's endorsement of war crimes was one big reason to keep him out of the job in the first place. It was known that he successfully lobbied Trump to pardon war criminals during his first term. If Wicker’s memory doesn’t go back that far, he could have looked in Hegseth’s 2024 book which rejects the Geneva Conventions as “fighting with one hand behind our back.”

Actually, Wicker doesn’t even have to go further back than Friday. Hegseth responded to the WaPo report with a social media hissy fit that did not deny he ordered the civilians killed.

The Post also reported dodgy behavior from the Pentagon that should have set off Wicker’s spidey senses well before the article was published. “Trump and the Pentagon said the Sept. 2 strike targeted members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua but have not provided evidence to support those claims. In subsequent strikes, the administration has referred to the alleged smugglers as members of 'designated terrorist organizations' — a blanket term that lacks detail,” the article said.

That’s not even counting Hegseth’s colossal Signalgate screw up.

If Wicker truly wants to begin “vigorous oversight” of the Pentagon now, he should start by explaining why the heck he voted to confirm Hegseth.