Don Bacon, a prominent Republican from Nebraska and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has joined the chorus of voices demanding that US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth be removed from office.
Republican concerns about his leadership skills have been reawakened, the congressman told Politico, due to the disarray in the defense department.
He made it clear that he was not in a position to advise the White House on how to handle the situation, but he did say that he found it unacceptable and would not tolerate it if he were in charge.
Reportedly, US Central Command chief Army General Michael Erik Kurilla accessed a secure government system to communicate specifics about the operation with Hegseth just minutes before US fighter jets began attacking Houthi rebels in Yemen in March, according to NBC.
Among the specifics relayed to the Defense Secretary were the scheduled takeoff and landing times of US fighters, as stated in the report. He performed what was required of him and gave Hegseth the information he wanted by using a technology developed to securely transfer secret documents.
The defense secretary allegedly sent portions of the same document to two separate group chats on the Signal messaging app using his personal phone, as reported by the Guardian UK as well.
NBC’s story relies on the statements of three US officials who were privy to the conversations. At the same time, the administration has rejected the allegations against the defense secretary.