Democrat tears into 'embarrassment' Hegseth: ‘Get the hell out'
Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) on Thursday lambasted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, calling him an 'embarrassment' and demanding he resign over a range of issues including sharing sensitive military attack plans via an unsecure Signal group chat, deploying Marines to Los Angeles amid protests, and his views on Russia's war in Ukraine.
'I have called for your resignation. I didn't think you were qualified before your confirmation, and you have done nothing to inspire confidence in your ability to lead competently,' Carbajal said during a budget hearing before the House Armed Services Committee.
The California Democrat began his line of questioning by pointing to Hegseth's decision to relay the launch time for fighter jets set to strike Houthi militant targets in March with at least two Signal group chats — one including The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg and the other including his wife, brother and a personal lawyer.
Hegseth — who also reportedly accessed the chat, which he created, via his private phone rather than his government phone — has repeatedly insisted no classified information was shared.
'You broke the law in sharing classified information and in doing so, endangered the lives of our service members that you are responsible for,' Carbajal said Thursday. 'Your inability to hold yourself accountable makes you incapable to lead. To lead. This alone makes you unfit to be the secretary of Defense.'
Later, the Defense secretary declined to say whether he thinks the U.S. should continue to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, saying only that 'we support peace in Ukraine.' Carbajal grew more heated with the response.
'Come on! Is this really leadership?' he said. 'You're an embarrassment to the United States.'
The exchange came a day after Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine faced fiery questioning in the Senate, where lawmakers on both sides of the aisle questioned the duo on the Trump administration's position regarding the war.
Caine told senators that he did not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin will stop at Ukraine if he wins the nearly three-year war and Ukraine cedes the land — a marked contrast to the Trump administration's typical ambiguity on the question.
Hegseth was also pressed Thursday on whether he believes political allegiance to President Trump is a requirement for serving the U.S., either as a service member or a civilian. When the Pentagon chief dodged the question, Carbajal finally exploded.
'You know what? I'm not going to waste my time anymore,' he said. 'You're not worthy of my attention or my questions. You're an embarrassment to this country, you're unfit to lead, and there's been bipartisan members of Congress that have called for your resignation.'
'You should just get the hell out and let somebody competently lead this department,' he added.
The statement prompted the panel's chair, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) to call for decorum.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
16 minutes ago
- Axios
U.S. military won't perform law enforcement at LA protests, Pentagon says
The U.S. military will not be responsible for law enforcement at Los Angeles protests, the Pentagon said on Friday. Why it matters: Nearly 5,000 National Guard members and Marines were deployed by the Trump administration in response to anti-immigration raid protests, despite disapproval from a plurality of Americans. "As of today, we have had no soldier or Marine detain anyone," Maj. Gen. Thomas Sherman said during a Friday press briefing. "They have watched federal law enforcement arrest personnel as they were protecting. They have not had to detain anyone at this point." Yes, but: The Department of Homeland Security previously said National Guard troops have the authority to make temporary arrests in certain conditions at the protests. Zoom in: Starting today, Second Battalion, Seventh Marines will be responsible for protecting federal property and personnel, Sherman said. Those previously performing those duties will transition to providing protection to federal law enforcement officers as they conduct their responsibilities. The National Guard members and Marines are trained in deescalation techniques and crowd control, he said. What we're watching: An appeals court on Thursday night allowed Trump's deployment of California's National Guard to continue by pausing U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer's previous ruling.
New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
Ex-New York Assembly Candidate Charged With Campaign Finance Fraud
A former New York State Assembly candidate used fake donations and forged signatures to fraudulently inflate the share of public matching funds he received in last year's election, federal prosecutors said on Friday. The former candidate, Dao Yin, was charged with wire fraud in a federal criminal complaint. He was scheduled to make his initial appearance before a magistrate judge in Federal District Court in Brooklyn on Friday afternoon. The charging of Mr. Yin, a Democrat who ran for a State Assembly seat in Queens, came a year after The New York Times published an investigation that found he appeared to have listed dozens of fake donors to increase his allotment of money under a new state matching-funds program meant to increase the power of donors making small political contributions. Prosecutors said Mr. Yin, 62, had abused the system by using a scheme that The Times found yielded him $162,000 in matching funds. It was one of the largest sums received by an Assembly candidate last year, despite Mr. Yin's relatively unheralded status. He ultimately received just 6 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, in which he challenged Ronald Kim, an incumbent assemblyman. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn opened a criminal investigation focused on Mr. Yin in November. A lawyer for Mr. Yin could not immediately be reached for comment. Mr. Yin's campaign filings contained glaring red flags, The Times found. Half of the money he raised directly from individuals came in cash, the least traceable form of donation. It was a much higher proportion than the 5.2 percent average for all other Assembly candidates who participated in the matching program. Only nine of 300 contribution cards he turned in contained the required contact information for the donors, including phone numbers and email addresses. Even so, the state Public Campaign Finance Board granted him matching public funds, records show. Candidates must disclose certain information about their donors. But in Mr. Yin's case, the board permitted waivers via 'good-faith letters' that supposedly documented his efforts to obtain the missing information from donors. After The Times published its investigation into Mr. Yin, the Public Campaign Finance Board unanimously adopted an emergency resolution meant to tighten its rules and prevent future abuses. More than two dozen donors listed as contributors to Mr. Yin's campaign told The Times they had given money to it. Many expressed outrage that their names had been used. This is a developing story and will be updated. William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What we know about Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear sites − and Iran's drone response
Senior Iranian regime officials. Nuclear scientists. The uranium enrichment facility in Natanz and surface-to-air missile systems in Tehran − these were among the targets Israel struck June 13 as part of a wave of attacks on Iran. Now Iran has launched retaliatory drone strikes on Israel, according to Israel's military, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had begun an operation aimed at rolling back Iran's "threat to Israel's very survival." The Israel Defense Forces said Iran launched more than 100 UAVs toward Israel and was working to intercept them. Iran has not confirmed its counter-attack, but it follows what Israel called a "preemptive strike" on Iran's nuclear program and other military targets, including senior officials such as Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Israel attacks Iran: See strike map, video, satellite images Netanyahu said Israel's offensive will last "as many days as it takes." Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei confirmed several of his nation's senior military commanders and nuclear scientists were killed in Israel's attacks, which struck parts of Iran's capital Tehran. Khamenei warned Israel had "prepared a bitter fate for itself." President Donald Trump urged Iran to make a deal "before there is nothing left," saying on his Truth Social platform that Israel had access to the U.S.'s "lethal military equipment." Here's what you need to know about Israel's attacks on Iran − and what might happen next. Iran's rulers have been pledging to destroy Israel ever since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Netanyahu has long argued that Iran can't be trusted and that Israel would eventually need to attack Iran's nuclear sites to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Although Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes only, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, recently concluded that Iran was very close to reaching the 90% uranium enrichment level required to build a nuclear weapon. Iran has also for years militarily and financially supported regional militia groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza, that have pressured or attacked Israel on multiple fronts. They support Palestinians in Gaza: What do Yemen's Houthi rebels really want? The Israel Defense Forces said more than 200 fighter jets struck dozens of targets in Iran, including what it called the "hideouts" of senior operatives in Iran's military leadership. In addition to IRGC chief Salami, the attack killed Iran's highest-ranking military officer, Mohammad Bagheri, and Gholamali Rashid, its armed forces' deputy commander. Iranian state media said at least six people had been killed and 20 wounded. Iranian state TV images and footage showed apartment buildings and cars on fire in Tehran. The IDF said it successfully "damaged" an underground area of Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, a district in central Iran, that contained a "multi-story enrichment hall with centrifuges, electrical rooms and additional supporting infrastructure." The IAEA confirmed that at least one strike hit the Natanz nuclear site. The nuclear watchdog said in a statement that it has so far found "no elevated radiation levels" at the facility. Israeli media reported that Iran's drones were being intercepted over Jordan and elsewhere. There were no immediate reports of damage in Israel and, while schools and gatherings were cancelled and Israelis told to stay near bomb shelters, the country's Home Front Command lifted an order to seek shelter. In his statement announcing the attack, Netanyahu thanked Trump for "his leadership in confronting Iran's nuclear weapons program. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged the attack in a statement. He also made it clear that American forces "are not involved in strikes against Iran." In fact, Trump told reporters at an event this week that he did not want Israel to strike Iran while a nuclear deal was still on the table. Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had been scheduled to meet with Israeli officials before participating in a sixth round of nuclear talks with the Iranians in Oman over this weekend. Those talks now seem in doubt. "These developments eventually could prompt Iran to try to rush for a bomb," wrote Jonathan Panikoff, director of the Atlantic Council think tank's Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, in a blog post. Trump will attend a National Security Council meeting later June 13. Multiple Arab countries issued statements of condemnation. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry described Israel's attack as "heinous" and said the international community bears "a great responsibility to halt this aggression." Oman, which has been hosting the nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran, said it was a "reckless" attack. In Europe, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, critical of Israel in recent weeks because of the war in Gaza, said Israel has a right to "defend its existence." Merz increased protections for Jewish institutions in Germany. Oil prices surged, fearing a potential supply disruption. Stock markets in Asia and Europe trade lower. Wall Street stock futures also traded lower ahead of the market open. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel attacks Iran's nuclear sites. Iran strikes back. What now?
