Ted Lieu calls for Pete Hegseth to resign: 'Reckless actions endangered lives'

[Eugene]

Source: The Hill

Top House Democrat calls for Hegseth to resign: ‘Endangered lives of American troops’

Ted Lieu calls for Pete Hegseth to resign: 'Reckless actions endangered lives'

by Mike Lillis - 03/25/25 1:09 PM ET

The fourth-ranking House Democrat called for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign Tuesday for sending sensitive military action plans over an unauthorized group chat that included a prominent Washington, D.C., journalist.

Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.), the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus and an Air Force veteran, said Hegseth’s messages — which detailed the Pentagon’s plans to strike Houthi rebels in Yemen earlier this month — were “reckless” and put the lives of U.S. troops at risk.

“Had that information gotten to the Houthis, American pilots could have been shot down, [and] Navy sailors could have been targeted,” Lieu said during a press briefing in the Capitol. “His reckless actions endangered lives of American troops, endangered our national security and makes it so that our allies don’t want to share sensitive classified information with us anymore.”

Lieu’s remarks came shortly after another top congressional Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for the resignations of two top Trump officials who participated in the group chat: Hegseth and Mike Waltz, the White House national security adviser.

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Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5212971-ted-lieu-pete-hegseth-resignation-signal-chat/

[Hassler]

1. The real DEI hires: Pete Kegbreath

And Dullci Gabbard

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. MaddowBlog-'Heads must roll': Democrats pounce on White House's latest national security scandal

Those hoping to see Democrats take the “Signalgate” controversy seriously didn’t have to wait long. Hakeem Jeffries said the story "shocks the conscience."
https://bsky.app/profile/hategop.bsky.social/post/3ll7sq2c2sc2w

‘Heads must roll’: Democrats pounce on White House’s latest national security scandal.
Those hoping to see Democrats take the “Signalgate” controversy seriously didn’t have to wait long. Hakeem Jeffries said the story "shocks the conscience."

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/heads-must-roll-democrats-pounce-white-houses-latest-national-security-rcna197949

Those hoping to see Democrats take the controversy seriously didn’t have to wait long. The Washington Post reported:

Congressional Democrats on Monday called for investigations over the leak of highly sensitive military plans involving top Cabinet officials and the editor in chief of The Atlantic. ... While the White House admitted that officials had made a mistake in adding Goldberg to the chat, Democrats in Congress argued that the acknowledgment isn’t enough and that the error must be investigated.

“The leak of sensitive national security information by the Trump administration on a non-classified system is completely outrageous and shocks the conscience,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. “It is yet another unprecedented example that our nation is increasingly more dangerous because of the elevation of reckless and mediocre individuals, including the Secretary of Defense.”

The New York Democrat added, “If House Republicans are truly serious about keeping America safe, and not simply being sycophants and enablers, they must join Democrats in a swift, serious and substantive investigation into this unacceptable and irresponsible national security breach.”

Around the same time, on the other side of Capitol Hill, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer delivered floor remarks in which the New York Democrat said, “This debacle requires a full investigation into how this happened, the damage it created, and how we can avoid it in the future. If our nation’s military secrets are being peddled around over unsecure text chains, we need to know at once and we need to put a stop to it immediately. Every single Senator — Republican and Democrat and Independent — must demand accountability.”.....

The next question, of course, is what they’ll do next.

Because Democrats are in the minority, they can’t call committee hearings or send subpoenas to the Trump administration. That said, members can launch investigations — several Democrats have already indicated their examinations are already underway — and issue reports.

They can also ask good questions during congressional hearings, including a Senate hearing that’s poised to begin with testimony from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Finally, they can at least try to organize unofficial hearings. “Only one word for this: FUBAR,” Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, an Army veteran who sits on the Armed Services Committee, wrote online. “If House Republicans won’t hold a hearing on how this happened IMMEDIATELY, I’ll do it my damn self.”