Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is facing serious scrutiny from Republican lawmakers over his handling of sensitive military information in a group chat that accidentally included a journalist.
While Republicans haven’t demanded Hegseth resign, they’re making it clear that his decision to share sensitive details about a military strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen through Signal, a commercial app, is a significant mistake.
Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, “I think they should make sure it never happens again. I wish they’d tell us, ‘It will never happen again.’ It’s the first strike in the early stages of an administration. Don’t let it ever happen again.”
Another Republican senator compared it to baseball, saying, “I don’t know how many strikes you get. In baseball, you get three. Maybe this is worth two,” and added, “If mistakes like this continue to happen, we’ll deal with them as it happens. My hope and my expectation is that it won’t.”
Other senators have suggested President Trump is not happy about the situation, but so far, he’s continued to back Hegseth and national security adviser Mike Waltz, who set up the group chat that included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic.
Trump downplayed the issue, calling it “the only glitch in two months.”
Republicans have raised questions about Hegseth’s judgment in the matter. They are confused by his choice to share sensitive information about the timing of fighter jet launches and drone strikes over a commercial app, which was then accessed on at least two personal phones.
They’re also questioning his response to reporters when he denied that the texts were war plans, even though a National Security Council spokesperson confirmed the messages seemed authentic.
“The worst part of it is Hegseth saying, ‘This didn’t really happen.’ Why don’t you just admit it?” one Republican senator said.
Hegseth’s firm denial during a recent event in Hawaii led to frustration from some commentators, including Fox News’s Brit Hume, who shared a video of Hegseth’s comments on social media and wrote, “Oh for God’s sake.”
Hume criticized the administration for dragging out the controversy by getting caught up in a debate about whether the information shared was a “war plan” or not, further prolonging the story.
Republicans privately remarked that they couldn’t imagine previous Defense Secretaries, like Robert Gates and Jim Mattis, making similar mistakes.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to make a distinction between “war plans” and “attack plans” in response to the reporting from The Atlantic. However, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) stated that, regardless of the label, the information should have been classified.
“The information as published recently appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified,” Wicker said.
Wicker and Senator Jack Reed (R.I.), the top Democrat on the committee, announced they would send a letter to the Defense Department asking for an inspector general’s report on the security breach and a classified briefing about the incident. They also plan to request that all Signal conversations be preserved.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Hegseth and other senior Trump officials need to admit their mistake.
“These guys, they made a mistake. They know it. They should own it and fix it so it never happens again,” Thune said.
The controversy has raised questions about whether Hegseth will remain in charge at the Pentagon, especially after his narrow confirmation in January. Vice President Pence had to break a tie vote after three Republicans—Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Mitch McConnell (Ky.)—voted against him.
McConnell, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, expressed concerns at the time about Hegseth’s readiness for the role, saying he had not yet shown he could handle the “massive and solemn responsibility” of leading the Department of Defense.
Collins called the decision to share sensitive details through a commercial app “egregious,” but said it’s up to President Trump to decide whether Hegseth should stay in his role.
Some prominent Democrats, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), have called for Hegseth’s removal.
“He should be fired,” Schumer said.
Jeffries wrote to Trump, saying that Hegseth’s continued position at the Pentagon puts national security at risk.
Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who had doubts about Hegseth’s nomination, said he doesn’t regret voting for him, but agreed that if the information shared in the chat was classified, it’s a serious issue.
“The best way to end a crisis is to look right at it and get the facts out,” Tillis said. “I think it would be good just to shut it down. It’ll just end the intrigue.”
Tillis also questioned why sensitive operational details needed to be shared before an attack was set to take place.
“Why share any of that information with anyone that close to the execution of kinetic strike unless they were material to the execution of the operation?” he asked.
Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who was critical of Hegseth’s nomination, said it’s up to President Trump to decide how to handle the situation.
When asked whether Hegseth or Waltz should resign, Ernst said, “No, this is up to the president.”
Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) called the situation “a screwup,” but said he didn’t think Hegseth or Waltz should step down.
“It was a screwup. They’ll fix it and move on,” Cornyn said.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a key voice on national security, expressed his support for President Trump’s national security team but said the situation should be used as a learning opportunity.
“Don’t say this was perfect, because it wasn’t,” Graham said.
