I’ll say it again: Pete Hegseth must go

I called for Pete Hegseth's resignation in the spring, when we first learned he conducted operational planning on an unsecured Signal chat.

As the year closes, and as Hegseth's reckless leadership continues to put our nation on a dangerous path, I reiterate that call.

A recent inspector general report on "Signal-gate" (from Hegseth's own Pentagon!) exposed just how severely he mishandled classified information. It noted how easily the information could have leaked out and directly endangered the lives of our service members.

I'm equally alarmed by the policies Hegseth's pursued as Defense Secretary – especially the illegal strikes he's ordered against noncombatant boats in international waters. Hegseth publicly cheers as we've now killed dozens.

It doesn't matter what he and the Trump administration "suspect" about these boats. The authority to wage war rests with Congress – and we haven't authorized any of this.

Now, Hegseth has stood behind Trump's escalating rhetoric about potentially invading Venezuela. I stood against an illegal and unprovoked war with Iraq more than 20 years ago, and I will do the same with Venezuela today.

We desperately need accountability from all in the Trump administration who've set us on this reckless course. And the first step is to call out grossly incompetent and dangerous actors like Pete Hegseth.

More soon,

Ron