'The Department Of Defense Has Been Overtaken By Chaos': Suhas Subramanyam Slams Secretary Pete Hegseth's Leadership

During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) tore into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Transcript

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.