Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing intense backlash after reports revealed he shared sensitive military plans for the second time using the encrypted messaging app Signal — and this time, with his wife and brother.
On Sunday night, Hegseth responded not by addressing the security breach, but by going after Democrats directly. The official Democrats.org account had posted: “@PeteHegseth needs to go.”
Hegseth fired back: “Your agenda is illegals, trans & DEI — all of which are no longer allowed @ DoD.”
According to The New York Times, the latest leak involved a 13-person Signal group that included Hegseth’s wife and brother, discussing U.S. military operations in Yemen. This followed an earlier Signal chat that reportedly included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic — again, about operations in Yemen.
The fallout has been swift and severe. A Politico report on the same day said the Pentagon is in crisis mode.
“The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon,” said John Ullyot, former chief spokesperson for the Defense Department.
“The building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership,” he said, according to Politico. “The dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership.”
The report goes on to say Hegseth is “unlikely to remain in his role,” with insiders pointing to a culture of chaos, internal backstabbing, and public embarrassment.
Ullyot directly challenged the Pentagon’s public story around recent firings. “He accused Hegseth’s team of ‘falsehoods’ about why three top officials were fired last week, saying they hadn’t leaked sensitive information to the media.”
He also slammed how the department handled the Signal leak, saying it exposed deep flaws in leadership and security. “Ullyot, who resigned from the Pentagon last week, described a department in collapse.”
With pressure mounting, insiders say Hegseth’s time may be running out — and that the scandal isn’t just about Signal, but a Pentagon on the edge.
