BURSTRep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), a former Air Force officer, said on Wednesday Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “should be removed from office” if he does not resign after he appeared to share potentially classified information about plans to attack Houthi rebels in a Signal group chat that mistakenly included a prominent journalist.
In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill," Houlahan suggested the breach is “absolutely impeachable” and said the top Defense official in the country should know better.
“We're talking about literally classified information. The release of classified information in a non-secure environment is an absolutely impeachable — literally — offense,” she told host Blake Burman, adding, “He ought to be resigning. That's what a decent, moral person who understands the rules would be doing.”
“And he, as a result of probably not resigning, should be removed from office,” Houlahan continued. “And I believe President Trump knows that.”
The Pennsylvania Democrat said she thinks fellow members of Congress who have served in the military and handled classified information like her, regardless of party, also “know what the right thing is to do.”
“In this particular case, it is to resign or to be resigned — to be removed,” she added.
Hegseth has come under close scrutiny in recent days over his handling of sensitive military information in the Signal group chat that included the country’s most-senior national security officials and — inadvertently — The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg.
Pressure on Hegseth further escalated Wednesday when Goldberg released a second blockbuster story — this time including full screenshots of the group chat messages with details about the timing and weapons used in the attack on the Houthi rebels.
While questions have swirled surrounding whether the information in question was classified — with Hegseth, himself, insisting he never shared “war plans” — Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told reporters Wednesday that the information, however it might be described, should have been classified.
“The information as published recently appears to me to be of such a sensitive nature that, based on my knowledge, I would have wanted it classified,” Wicker said at the Capitol.
Following the initial report about the chats, Houlahan sent a letter calling for government officials, including members of Congress, to receive training in handling classified and sensitive material.