Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona calls for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign after war plans were shared on the messaging app, Signal.
"Our service members and our national security deserve more than Pete Hegseth," Kelly told NPR. "He is unqualified for this job. And if he doesn't resign, the president should fire him."
Yesterday, during a House Intelligence Committee hearing, top U.S. intelligence officials claimed that the information shared in the Signal chat was not classified. Kelly says that this argument was an attempt to deflect from the situation at hand.
"This is the kind of thing that gets people killed," Kelly said, "And there has to be accountability for this. It's the right thing to do for our service members. They're not going to trust the system if you have the secretary of defense and other officials out there being so careless and reckless about this type of information."
Kelly sits on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and this week the panel heard from intelligence officials, including the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Hearings for both the House and the Senate came after Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, shared that he had been added to a group chat on Signal with top administration officials, who were discussing plans to bomb the Houthis in Yemen.
NPR's Michel Martin spoke to Kelly, a Navy combat veteran who also sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, after the hearings to discuss what he believes the consequences should be for those who shared sensitive war strategies on Signal.
Morning Edition extended invitations to representatives of the White House and every member of the Trump administration who was in the Signal chat, along with Republican lawmakers, all either declined or did not respond the interview requests.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview Highlights
Michel Martin: I want to start by drawing on your perspective as someone who flew multiple combat missions. What do you make of the revelation that top intelligence officials were communicating about upcoming U.S. airstrikes in Yemen using that messaging app Signal?
Mark Kelly: Well, it's incredibly reckless. When I saw the details of what was shared over Signal by the secretary of defense, I was shocked. And there should be consequences for this kind of recklessness.
When you are talking about the time of launch of an aircraft carrier, what type of airplanes, including beyond that MQ-9s, Tomahawk missiles, time over target, these are the most sensitive pieces of information that any military has an impending strike where you're having service members being put in harm's way.
Martin: There was a moment during yesterday's hearing when Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro questioned claims from the administration that the information in the messages was not classified.
Why does it matter whether this information was classified or not?
Kelly: Well, it was certainly pulled from a classified document, and I think they're just trying to deflect that there were no markings on this Signal chain. But this information, whether it came specifically from a document that the secretary of defense was copying or it was shared to him over a phone, maybe even a secure phone, he put it on an unsecured system.
I flew combat missions, 39 of them, over Iraq and Kuwait in the first Gulf War. If the Iraqis had this kind of information, knowing that I'm going to be over to Target at this time, it alerts them that you're coming and they're going to be much more focused.
This is the kind of thing that gets people killed. And there has to be accountability for this. It's the right thing to do for our service members. They're not going to trust the system. If you have the secretary of defense and other officials out there being so careless and reckless about this type of information.
Martin: So what do you think should happen now?
Kelly: Well, there needs to be an investigation. Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee that I sit on, said this the other day. Some of my other colleagues, I know they're very disturbed by what happened here. And ultimately, my view is that the secretary of defense should resign.
Our service members and our national security deserve more than Pete Hegseth. He is unqualified for this job. And if he doesn't resign, the president should fire him.
Martin: So, just to be really clear about this, the president fired inspector generals across these agencies. Is there someone in place who could actually undertake an investigation like the one that Senator Wicker and you are calling for?
Kelly: I guess you could possibly ask the FBI to investigate it. Maybe you find a qualified inspector general from another agency temporarily assign them to DOD for this. That's what the White House should be focused on right now.
Martin: And Senator Wicker is one of a handful of Republicans who have publicly voiced concerns. Do you think this is a bipartisan concern or not?
Kelly: Oh, it absolutely is. My other Republican colleagues that are concerned about this privately need to come off the sidelines and you need to speak truth to power when things like this happen, that puts servicemembers at physical risk, risk of getting killed, more American casualties. You got to stand up and say something to the White House.
NPR disclosure: Katherine Maher, the CEO of NPR, chairs the board of the Signal Foundation.
The digital copy was edited by Treye Green and Kristian Monroe.
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