Congresswoman Hoyle Calls for Secretary Hegseth’s Resignation
For Immediate Release: March 27, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Val Hoyle (OR-04) joined 69 other House Democrats in calling for the immediate resignation of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, after new reporting from The Atlantic made clear he shared classified information on Signal, an unapproved and unsecured communications platform.
The letter was addressed to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz.
The full text is available here and below.
Letter Text
Dear Secretary Hegseth, Secretary Rubio, Director Gabbard, and Mr. Waltz,
We write to express grave concern over your handling of sensitive information regarding military operations in Yemen and potential risks to our servicemembers carrying out this mission. The Atlantic reported that their Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a Signal group chat on March 13 titled “Houthi PC small group.” Fortunately, an American journalist was added and not anyone who could have used this information to cause significant harm to the United States.
As more evidence has come to light, the misconduct in the group chat has become further undefendable and inexcusable. You all jeopardized the lives of servicemembers. There must be accountability starting with the immediate resignation of Secretary Hegseth.
The degree of incompetence, carelessness, and irresponsibility is difficult to underscore. It is incomprehensible that the heads of the world’s most powerful government were unknowingly sharing secret military plans and knowingly using an unsecure communications method to do so. A bad actor or foreign contact could have easily been added to this Signal group instead of Mr. Goldberg. This experience was so absurd that Mr. Goldberg thought it more likely to be a disinformation campaign or artificial intelligence than several key members of our government, many who sit on the National Security Council.
This encounter calls into question the way in which this operation was discussed. It was reported that classified or highly sensitive information was being shared over Signal. Information that if leaked to the wrong sources could have resulted in dire national security consequences. As the article goes on to state, there are legitimate questions on whether laws like the Espionage Act or laws on preserving official federal records were violated.
If you had not added a non-government individual to this Signal group, then this breach would never have come to light. This does not inspire confidence that other classified communications have been handled through proper channels or that this national security team is taking these issues seriously.
We hope you understand the gravity of this situation. The decisions you make have a significant impact on our national security and the safety of our servicemembers. We will be demanding accountability and transparency in what transpired. For the sake of our national security, we ask that you fully and willingly cooperate with Congress in any forthcoming hearings or investigations.
Sincerely,
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