(NewsNation) — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “resign immediately” after a journalist was accidentally added to a highly sensitive Signal group chat featuring plans for an attack against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
NewsNation’s Joe Khalil asked Jeffries, “What would the appropriate response be to the Signal-gate situation now?” Jeffires replied, “Pete Hegseth should resign, immediately, or be fired.”
Journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently added to a group chat on the Signal messaging app, on Monday published an account of officials accidentally leaking what he called “war plans” to him.
Following blowback from administration officials about the wording of his article, Goldberg on Wednesday released the texts for the public.
The article was released as Trump’s top intelligence officials appeared before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for an open hearing on global security Wednesday — just one day after the Senate’s counterpart grilled officials over the still-unreleased text thread.
Jeffries is now the highest-ranking member of Congress who has called for a Trump administration official to be ousted in response to the incident. On Tuesday, Jeffries also called for Congress to investigate top administration officials.
Other top officials from the Trump administration have faced criticism and calls to resign.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Hegseth and national security adviser Mike Waltz should step down.
“When the stakes are this high, incompetence is not an option,” Warner said on social media before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats Tuesday.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has accepted “full responsibility” for the group text.
National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe maintained during a Tuesday Senate committee hearing that no classified information was shared in the Signal chat.
NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer, Kevin Bohn, Anna Kutz, Kellie Meyer, and Libbey Dean contributed to this report.