Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., is calling on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign over the Houthi strikes group chat controversy.
Kelly, a former astronaut and United States Navy pilot who served in combat, has been a vocal critic of Hegseth, including during the confirmation process.
“Two months ago, on the day of Secretary Hegseth’s confirmation vote, I asked my colleagues if it was worth the risk to our servicemembers and our national security to confirm the most unprepared nominee for this job we’ve ever seen. This is what happens when you put unqualified people in important jobs where lives are on the line,” Kelly said in a statement on Wednesday morning.
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“It’s fortunate this massive error didn’t result in American casualties, but for the safety of our servicemembers and our country, Secretary Hegseth needs to resign,” he added.
Members of the administration are looking ahead after The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was included in a group chat on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, about a strike against the Houthis in Yemen. Goldberg later went on to publish the messages on Wednesday.
“I’m incredibly proud of the courage and skill of the troops, and they are ongoing and continue to be devastatingly effective,” Hegseth said in the wake of the story. “The last place I would want to be right now is a Houthi in Yemen who wants to disrupt freedom of navigation, so the skill and courage of our troops is on full display.”
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“As I also stated yesterday, nobody’s texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth added.
Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz took ownership of the incident.
“I take full responsibility. I built the group,” he said on “The Ingraham Angle” Tuesday. “It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it.”
Kelly is one of many Democratic members of Congress calling on Hegseth to step down, including Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies, D-N.Y.
“When the stakes are this high, incompetence is not an option. Pete Hegseth should resign. Mike Waltz should resign,” Warner posted on Tuesday.
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Still, some have argued that there is a double standard from Democrats over military mishaps during the Biden administration.
“You can acknowledge the Signal fiasco was a mistake while also refusing admonishment from people who A) slept with Chinese spies B) didn’t demand any resignations after 13 US Service members were killed in Afghanistan C) didn’t care that Lloyd Austin was MIA for 5 days,” conservative commentator Grace Curley posted.
“This won’t be the first time [Kelly] calls on [Trump] officials to resign. He’s not interested in working with the administration to advance national or state interests; he’s doing whatever he can to try to embarrass the White House and stop their efforts to make America great again,” the Republican Party of Arizona posted.
The Department of Defense did not respond in time for publication.
