New Democrat Coalition demands Hegseth's resignation following Signal report

The New Democrat Coalition called on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign on Friday after an unclassified inspector general report revealed he put military personnel at risk by sharing sensitive intelligence in a Signal group chat.

Repeatedly, the Secretary has lied, deflected, and unfairly blamed his team, stated New Democrat Chair Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and National Security Working Group Chair Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.) following the reports release. His conduct is disgraceful, and he should step down immediately to prevent endangering American lives.

The chat first came to light in March when The Atlantics editor in chief was inadvertently added to the Signal group discussing upcoming strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. Participants included Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and then-national security adviser Mike Waltz, who used emojis to endorse the planned actions.

Current and former officials warned that if a foreign adversary had intercepted the detailed strike plans Hegseth shared, it could have seriously endangered troops.

During the inspector generals investigation, Hegseth refused to be interviewed and did not provide all Signal messages, leaving the office to rely on screenshots obtained by The Atlantic.

The coalitions demand for his resignation coincides with criticism over Hegseths authorization of strikes on alleged narcoterrorists in the Pacific Ocean. The White House defended the actions, citing the designation of drug trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organizations, but some lawmakers and former military officials consider the September 2 attack a potential war crime.

The report confirms what weve long suspected: Secretary Hegseth is reckless and a danger to service members, the New Democrats said. True leaders are accountable; Hegseth is not. He evaded responsibility for this incident and refused to cooperate with an independent investigation. Now, he denies accountability for a likely illegal follow-up strike in the Caribbean.

Conflicting accounts have surfaced regarding the September 2 strike, with Hegseth and the mission commander denying any order to eliminate all personnel on board, which would have prompted a second attack on survivors in the wreckage.

The coalition previously called for Hegseths resignation in March over the Signal chat and again in April for repeatedly endangering classified information and causing turmoil at the Pentagon. Hegseth recklessly jeopardized service members safety. He must resign or be removed immediately, and Congress should launch a full investigation, Schneider wrote in July on platform X.

Author: Riley Thompson