During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) tore into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
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00:00Finally, Mr. Speaker, I rise today out of grave concern over our leadership at the Pentagon
00:06right now. In just a few short months, the Department of Defense has been overtaken by
00:10chaos because of Secretary Hegset's leadership. Classified and sensitive information is being
00:15shared over signal. The Secretary has a non-secure internet line in his office, and seemingly
00:20every day there's a new story about firings, backstabbings, and so-called shake-ups in
00:25the highest levels of leadership. This leadership is not making our country or our troops safer.
00:29But don't take it from me. I have had many veterans and military families reach out to me.
00:35One military parent is so scared that the sharing of classified information over non-secure channels
00:40will put their son at risk. And she wrote to me that our nation's top defense officials
00:46shared sensitive troop movements over a commercial social media platform without verifying who was
00:51on the other end. This is not only reckless, it is terrifying, according to her. Our service members
00:56and their families deserve leaders who treat their safety with the gravity it demands. This breach
01:01not only endangers lives, but erodes the trust of those who serve and support our military. My son
01:06has sworn to defend this country. I expect the same level of responsibility and integrity from those
01:12in charge. Another constituent pointed out the hypocrisy of the administration claiming that
01:16they did nothing wrong in using signal for these discussions. They said, for 18 years I have lived
01:21a life most people will never understand. My promise to defend this nation does not stop when I clock out.
01:28It permeates every single aspect of my life. It affects who I marry, who I live with, who I date,
01:33who I'm friends with, who I speak to. I would be sitting in jail right now if I had done something as brazen,
01:39thoughtless and dangerous as what Secretary Hegseth among others did. That's from military families and
01:46military people serving today. And not only is this a failure of our national security, it is an
01:51embarrassment for the United States. Our allies will be less willing to share intelligence with us
01:56if Secretary Hegseth might share it with his family, his poker buddies or whoever else he thinks it
02:01would be neat to loop in. Our service members deserve better and the American people deserve better and
02:06that's why I reiterate my demand to make sure we have change at the Secretary of Defense level
02:11and in the Pentagon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The gentleman yields. The chair recognizes the
02:18gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Thompson, for five minutes.