BREAKING: Republicans Block Cortez Masto, Kaine Push to Demand Transparency into Human Rights Violations by Former President of Honduras

Cortez Masto and Kaine’s resolution failed despite bipartisan support, as Republican Senators refused to demand details related to the actions of convicted drug trafficker and former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández, who was pardoned by President Trump last year FTP for TV stations of her remarks is available here . Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) forced a vote on legislation to require the Trump Administration to produce a report detailing Honduras’s human rights violations under former President Juan Orlando Hernández, who President Trump gave a “full and complete pardon ” in December of 2025. Hernández was convicted by a U.S. jury for conspiring to import hundreds of tons of cocaine and for related weapons offenses and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. The former Honduran president has also been accused of taking bribes from Joaquín Guzmán, the infamous Mexican cartel leader known as “El Chapo,” and raking in millions of dollars from drug trafficking organizations. “President Trump has abused his pardon power at every turn, and his pardon of notorious drug trafficker Juan Orlando Hernández is both insulting and dangerous,” said Senator Cortez Masto . “The American people deserve to know the truth about the connections between former Honduran President Hernández, cartels that have trafficked deadly drugs into the U.S., and Honduras’s human rights record. Instead, Congressional Republicans seem more interested in protecting President Trump than in public safety.” “President Trump pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, a convicted narcotrafficker who bragged about flooding our country with cocaine,” said Senator Kaine. “It should be a no brainer to require the Administration to detail the full extent of his crimes and human rights abuses. Americans deserve to understand who this criminal cartel leader is that Trump decided to release. Instead, my colleagues today blocked a resolution that would do just that. I’ll keep working to demand accountability from the Administration about this pardon.” This resolution would have forced the Trump administration to outline the human rights abuses under former President Hernández, including information about: connections between high-level Honduran government officials and drug trafficking organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel; corruption of Honduran government officials related to drug trafficking, including money laundering and bribery; torture, rape, illegal detention, witness tampering, and murder in connection with drug cartels and drug trafficking, and efforts to undermine police reforms and drug crime investigations. The resolution would also have demanded a description of the steps the United States has taken to promote respect for human rights in Honduras and bring Honduran government officials to justice for their involvement in drug trafficking. And as Hernández continues to spread false information about his record, the resolution would have required an assessment from the Secretary of State of the former president’s status post-conviction and any ongoing ties he maintains to drug cartels. The full resolution can be found HERE . Senator Cortez Masto has been working to crack down on drug and human trafficking since she was first elected Attorney General , when she worked with Nevada’s Republican governor, law enforcement , and Mexican officials to combat the rise of methamphetamine manufacturing and cross-border drug trafficking. In the Senate, she has authored legislation to combat drug trafficking online that was signed into law, and passed critical legislation to eliminate illegal fentanyl supply chains. She has also introduced legislation to crack down on the deadly fentanyl additive xylazine. She has also pushed for transparency about the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars to hold people in horrific conditions in El Salvadoran prisons and has been a consistent supporter of the International Human Rights Defense Act . ###