Pete Hegseth is facing the most serious crisis of his tenure as US defense secretary, engulfed by allegations of war crimes in the Caribbean and a blistering inspector general report accusing him of mishandling classified military intelligence. Despite calls from lawmakers in both parties for his resignation, Hegseth shows no signs of stepping down and retains Donald Trump's support.
The twin scandals have engulfed the former Fox News personality in separate but overlapping allegations that lawmakers, policy experts and former officials say reveal a pattern of dangerous recklessness at the helm of the Pentagon. Democratic legislators have reignited calls for his ouster after revelations that survivors clinging to wreckage from a September boat strike were deliberately killed in a 'double-tap' attack, while a defence department investigation released on Thursday concluded he violated Pentagon policies by sharing sensitive details via the Signal messaging app hours before airstrikes in Yemen.
The most recent controversy comes as the Caribbean campaign centres on the Trump administration's extrajudicial strikes against suspected drug smugglers, which have killed at least 87 people across 22 attacks since September. Trump has justified the operation as essential to combating fentanyl trafficking, claiming each destroyed vessel saves 25,000 American lives, though factcheckers, former officials and drug policy experts have called this figure absurd, noting that fentanyl primarily enters the United States overland from Mexico, not via Caribbean boats from Venezuela.
Senator Patty Murray, the Democratic vice-chair of the Senate appropriations committee, called for Hegseth's firing following a bipartisan briefing on the incident on Thursday. 'Between overseeing this campaign in the Caribbean, risking US servicemembers' lives by sharing war plans on Signal, and so much else, it could not be more obvious that Secretary Hegseth is unfit for the role, and it is past time for him to go,' Murray said.
The New Democrat Coalition, the largest Democratic caucus in the House with 116 members, issued their own statement calling Hegseth 'incompetent, reckless, and a threat to the lives of the men and women who serve in the armed forces'. The Coalition chair, Brad Schneider, and national security working group chair, Gil Cisneros, accused the defence secretary of lying, deflecting and scapegoating subordinates while refusing to take accountability.
