{"id":1052568,"date":"2025-04-22T15:34:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T19:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1052568"},"modified":"2025-04-22T15:34:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T19:34:30","slug":"republicans-and-top-defense-officials-slam-pete-hegseth-for-threatening-americas-national-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/republicans-and-top-defense-officials-slam-pete-hegseth-for-threatening-americas-national-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans and Top Defense Officials Slam Pete Hegseth for Threatening America\u2019s National Security\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In response to Republicans and top defense officials\u2019 growing concerns with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth\u2019s incompetence and threats to national security, <\/em>DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPete Hegseth must resign \u2014 even Republicans and top defense officials know he\u2019s got to go. Because of Hegseth\u2019s incompetence, our most sensitive national security intelligence isn\u2019t safe \u2014 and our adversaries are watching. Every day that Hegseth remains in power, America\u2019s national security is at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW: As top defense officials voice concern about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth\u2019s incompetence, Republicans are joining Democrats in calling for the <\/strong>\u201cleast experienced defense secretary\u201d<\/strong><\/a> to be fired. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/a>: \u201cRep. Don Bacon, a prominent Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, became the first sitting GOP lawmaker Monday to suggest President Donald Trump should fire Pete Hegseth \u2014 calling the chaos at the Pentagon one reason why many Hill Republicans were privately uneasy with the Defense secretary\u2019s nomination in the first place.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cPentagon officials have watched the unraveling of Hegseth\u2019s inner circle with alarm, concerned how it would function in a national security emergency and wondering whether the president may be forced to act.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cUnder Hegseth, Chaos Prevails at the Pentagon\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe discord, according to current and former defense officials, includes: screaming matches in his inner office among aides; a growing distrust of the thousands of military and civilian personnel who staff the building; and bureaucratic logjams that have slowed down progress on some of President Trump\u2019s key priorities \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe problems inside Mr. Hegseth\u2019s office have been compounded by a growing distrust of civil servants and senior military officials who serve as the Pentagon\u2019s institutional memory \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome Pentagon officials said that Mr. Hegseth\u2019s team have been combing through their old social media posts and writings, searching for possible signs of disloyalty to Mr. Trump or his movement. Three civilian Pentagon officials said that their bosses had asked them to provide copies of their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s so they could prove their \u2018patriotism\u2019 to Mr. Hegseth\u2019s office. In all three cases, the employees had served in combat; two of them had been wounded in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mistrust has extended to senior military leaders who have worked in Democratic and Republican administrations over the course of their decades-long careers.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just this week, it was revealed that Hegseth shared critical military operational details AGAIN, putting active duty service members\u2019 lives at risk, threatening America\u2019s national security, and raising questions about his fitness to lead from those closest to him. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to four people with knowledge of the chat.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of those people said that the information<\/strong> Mr. Hegseth shared on the Signal chat included the flight schedules for the F\/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen<\/strong> \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne person familiar with the chat said Mr. Hegseth\u2019s aides had warned him<\/strong> a day or two before the Yemen strikes not to discuss such sensitive operational details in his Signal group chat<\/strong>, which, while encrypted, is not considered as secure as government channels typically used for discussing highly sensitive war planning and combat operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/a>: \u201cHegseth shared detailed military plans in second Signal chat that included his wife and brother\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[T]he chat \u2026 had more than a dozen people in it \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe revelation comes as some of Hegseth\u2019s closest advisers have begun sounding the alarm about the secretary\u2019s judgment<\/strong>, including his former press secretary, John Ullyot, and three former senior officials <\/strong>Hegseth fired last week \u2014 his top adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, who served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the second time Hegseth has exposed critical military operational details and risked active duty service members\u2019 lives. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Atlantic<\/a>: \u201cThe Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt 11:44 a.m., the account labeled \u2018Pete Hegseth\u2019 posted in Signal<\/strong> a \u2018TEAM UPDATE.\u2019 I will not quote from this update, or from certain other subsequent texts. The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel<\/strong>, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command\u2019s area of responsibility. What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen<\/strong>, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBrian Hughes, the spokesman for the National Security Council<\/strong>, responded two hours later, confirming the veracity of the Signal group<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

REMINDER: Hegseth already faced major concerns about his fitness to lead before his confirmation. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NPR<\/a>: \u201cIf confirmed, he would be the least experienced defense secretary in the history of the republic, <\/strong>going back to Henry Knox, the first secretary of war who was a key officer in Washington\u2019s army. Those who rise to that post often come from Capitol Hill, industry or the highest ranks of the officer corps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico<\/a>: \u201cHegseth, if confirmed by the Senate, would lead 1.3 million active-duty troops in uniform and more than 750,000 civilians, hold contentious meetings with U.S. allies and develop strike options against the Islamic State and Iranian proxies. And while Hegseth has military experience, he has never run an organization larger than a small nonprofit. \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018Folks are shocked,\u2019 said a current DOD official. \u2018He\u2019s just a Fox News personality that\u2019s never worked in the government.\u2019 \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018It is a massive bureaucracy, you have to understand how that works to support national security around the globe,\u2019 [another] official added. \u2018It is tedious and challenging and it is not at all related to getting on Fox News and pontificating.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wall Street Journal<\/a>: \u201cRepublican senators said that they want closer scrutiny of President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s pick for defense secretary. … The former Fox News host was an unconventional choice for the top Pentagon job, as he has never led a large government agency<\/strong>, but the debate about his qualifications has been overshadowed by allegations related to his personal life.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to Republicans and top defense officials\u2019 growing concerns with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth\u2019s incompetence and threats to national security, DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement: \u201cPete Hegseth must resign \u2014 even Republicans and top defense officials know he\u2019s got to go. Because of Hegseth\u2019s incompetence, our most sensitive national security […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1052568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRepublicans and Top Defense Officials Slam Pete Hegseth for Threatening America\u2019s National Security\u00a0 - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/republicans-and-top-defense-officials-slam-pete-hegseth-for-threatening-americas-national-security\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-22T19:34:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-22T19:34:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adrianna Tomasello\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adrianna Tomasello\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/republicans-and-top-defense-officials-slam-pete-hegseth-for-threatening-americas-national-security\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/republicans-and-top-defense-officials-slam-pete-hegseth-for-threatening-americas-national-security\/\",\"name\":\"Republicans and Top Defense Officials Slam Pete Hegseth for Threatening America\u2019s National Security\u00a0 - 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