Key Takeaways:
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly shared military strike plans in a private Signal chat that included his wife, brother, and lawyer.
- The group chat used a personal device and was separate from a previously exposed Signal thread involving top officials.
- Details shared included flight schedules for attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen.
- Critics, including former aides and Senate Democrats, are questioning Hegseth’s judgment and calling for his removal.
- The Pentagon insists no classified information was shared and defends Hegseth’s leadership.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing fresh scrutiny after it was revealed he shared sensitive military details about a March airstrike on Houthi rebels in Yemen within a private Signal chat that included his wife, brother, and personal attorney.
Hegseth used a second Signal messaging group, separate from an earlier one already under investigation, to communicate operational information such as flight schedules for F/A-18 Hornets tasked with carrying out the strike.
The chat group, created during Hegseth’s confirmation process, was accessed from his personal phone and included about a dozen close associates.
Among the recipients were Jennifer Hegseth, the defense secretary’s wife and former Fox News producer, who holds no official government position; his brother Phil, a Department of Homeland Security liaison to the Pentagon; and Tim Parlatore, a Navy reservist and legal advisor stationed at the Pentagon.
Criticism has intensified following the revelation. Former aides, including Hegseth’s ex-press secretary John Ullyot and three recently fired senior officials, have raised concerns about dysfunction within the Pentagon and Hegseth’s leadership style. “It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon,” Ullyot said in a statement to CNN.
This second chat echoes an earlier scandal in which The Atlantic’s editor was accidentally included in another Signal group where high-ranking officials discussed the same Yemen strike. That incident triggered an ongoing probe by the Defense Department’s inspector general.
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Despite the backlash, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell defended Hegseth on X, claiming “no classified information was in any Signal chat” and accusing the media of “resurrecting old stories” to damage Trump’s national security team.
Still, the controversy has escalated. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded Hegseth’s dismissal, tweeting, “We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk… Pete Hegseth must be fired.”
As questions mount over the secretary’s use of unsecured channels and inclusion of non-clearance holders in sensitive discussions, the Pentagon faces increasing pressure to address concerns over operational security and chain-of-command integrity.
Meanwhile, Hegseth’s allies maintain that his leadership reflects a commitment to “efficiency and loyalty to President Trump’s agenda.”