Democrats are criticizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over a controversial group chat on a messaging app in which he and other top officials discussed plans to attack the Hooty rebels in Yemen.
Representative Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) lashed out at the officials, calling them “incompetent” and warning that Americans could have died if details of the plan were revealed.
“There is no world where this information should be shared on an insecure channel,” he said. “Hegseth is in over his head, so he is in danger of the country and our men and women in uniform.”
Moulton called on Republicans in Congress to hold Hegseth accountable before Congress and to hold him accountable.
Earlier on Monday, it was revealed that The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was included in the Trump administration’s group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal.
The messages shared only a few, contained highly classified information about the attack plan. The publication of the article sent shockwaves throughout Washington.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D), who ran with former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, joked about the news, saying Hegseth was “texting messages to war plans like an invitation to the fraternity party.”
Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) said that each government official on the text chain said, “I just committed a crime” and that it would usually involve prison sentences.
“We can’t trust anyone in this administration to keep Americans safe,” he said.
Sabrina Singh, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense for the Biden administration, asked why high-ranking officials used Signal and whether they “didn’t even realize there was a reporter in the chat.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said the administration’s actions were “blatantly illegal and incredibly dangerous.”
“Our national security is in the hands of a complete amateur,” she said. “Are there other very sensitive national security conversations going on in group chats? Did other random people accidentally add them too?”
With a letter to House leaders and House Management Committee leaders, Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) expressed her concerns about the need for proper training to process sensitive information in Congress.
She said government officials are “orderly” following an Atlantic article that they are trained in managing classified materials.
Senator Andy Kim (D-N.J.) called for “people who lose their jobs,” Hegseth, if possible, regarding the incident.
Representative Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a ranking member of the House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee, said he was frightened by the messaging report.
“If so, these actions are brazen violations of the laws and regulations that exist to protect national security, including the security of Americans who do harm and serve,” he said.
Matthew Miller, a former Obama-era Justice Department official, called for an investigation into leaks and messages, comparing it to the previous scandal involving former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Several more Democratic lawmakers and committees weighed in online, criticizing the administration over the news, calling it a breach of national security and a potential crime.
