Cortez Masto, Kaine to Force Senate Vote Demanding Transparency into Human Rights Violations by Former President of Honduras

Their resolution will force all Senators to go on record about whether they are willing to demand details related to the actions of convicted drug trafficker and former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández, who was recently pardoned by President Trump

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced 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's inexplicable pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández puts into sharp relief President Trump's hypocrisy on public safety," said Senator Cortez Masto. "The American people deserve to fully understand the connections between Hernández's government, drug trafficking organizations, and Honduras's human rights record. Congressional Republicans should stand with us and ensure President Trump doesn't get a free pass for pardoning a notorious drug trafficker."

"Americans deserve answers about why President Trump pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, a notorious and convicted narcotrafficker who had previously bragged about flooding the United States with cocaine," said Senator Kaine. "This legislation, which is guaranteed to receive a vote on the floor of the Senate, will require a detailed report about the crimes and human rights abuses that Hernández has committed against Hondurans and Americans and let the American people decide whether President Trump should have pardoned him."

In the coming weeks, Senators Cortez Masto and Kaine will force a vote on this resolution which would outline the human rights abuses under former President Hernández. This resolution asks for 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 also demands 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. Finally, it requires an assessment from the Secretary of State of former President Juan Orlando Hernández's current status post-conviction and any ongoing ties he maintains to drug cartels.

Under the legislation, if the Administration fails to produce the report, security assistance to Honduras would be prohibited by federal law. The legislation is privileged under the Foreign Assistance Act, meaning the Senate will be forced to vote on the measure.

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.

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