Washington, DC – Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today called for the immediate resignation of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth following revelations that he shared classified U.S. military plans in a Signal group chat with several members of Trump’s Cabinet and the Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Hegseth and several members of the Trump administration previously denied that senior officials had shared classified information on the commercial messaging app and attacked the reporting as false.
“It is now undeniable that Secretary Hegseth not only shared classified U.S. war plans over Signal, but also lied about it to the American public. This gross incompetence puts American servicemembers in jeopardy and risked having our adversaries intercept a potential roadmap of U.S. strategic planning.
“The most stunning aspect of this debacle is that a journalist—mistakenly included in the chat—showed more care with sensitive U.S. military plans than the Trump administration officials entrusted to protect them. The Atlantic responsibly withheld the exchange from publication until the Trump administration issued multiple false denials, exposing not just negligence but an active cover-up. Rather than acknowledge the gravity of the breach, the administration has deflected, dismissed, and attempted to bury its own reckless conduct.
“Pete Hegseth must resign immediately. If his lack of qualifications for this role wasn’t already evident, this latest scandal confirms he is dangerously unfit for the job. But Hegseth is far from the only incompetent risk factor in this administration. Trump himself has shown extreme disregard for handling classified materials, as evidenced by the stashing of classified documents in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago. Now his top national security officials are casually discussing military strikes in a group chat, and their dismissal of the severity of these communications leads me to believe the use of Signal was not a one-off.
“This isn’t just irresponsible, it’s a direct threat to our troops, allies, and global standing. Republicans who hold the gavels in Congress, and relevant federal watchdog agencies, must launch credible investigations into the nature of the Trump administration’s mishandling of classified information and violations of the Federal Records Act. The American people deserve to know whether Trump officials are hiding official communication in private channels without archiving it as the law requires.”
“It is now undeniable that Secretary Hegseth not only shared classified U.S. war plans over Signal, but also lied about it to the American public. This gross incompetence puts American servicemembers in jeopardy and risked having our adversaries intercept a potential roadmap of U.S. strategic planning.
“The most stunning aspect of this debacle is that a journalist—mistakenly included in the chat—showed more care with sensitive U.S. military plans than the Trump administration officials entrusted to protect them. The Atlantic responsibly withheld the exchange from publication until the Trump administration issued multiple false denials, exposing not just negligence but an active cover-up. Rather than acknowledge the gravity of the breach, the administration has deflected, dismissed, and attempted to bury its own reckless conduct.
“Pete Hegseth must resign immediately. If his lack of qualifications for this role wasn’t already evident, this latest scandal confirms he is dangerously unfit for the job. But Hegseth is far from the only incompetent risk factor in this administration. Trump himself has shown extreme disregard for handling classified materials, as evidenced by the stashing of classified documents in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago. Now his top national security officials are casually discussing military strikes in a group chat, and their dismissal of the severity of these communications leads me to believe the use of Signal was not a one-off.
“This isn’t just irresponsible, it’s a direct threat to our troops, allies, and global standing. Republicans who hold the gavels in Congress, and relevant federal watchdog agencies, must launch credible investigations into the nature of the Trump administration’s mishandling of classified information and violations of the Federal Records Act. The American people deserve to know whether Trump officials are hiding official communication in private channels without archiving it as the law requires.”