Pete Hegseth faces deepening scrutiny from Congress over boat strikes

WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth barely squeaked through a grueling Senate confirmation process to become secretary of defense this year, facing lawmakers wary of the Fox News Channel host and skeptical of his capacity, temperament and fitness for the job.

Just three months later, he became embroiled in Signalgate as he and other top U.S. officials used the popular Signal messaging application to discuss pending military strikes in Yemen as a journalist was mistakenly included in the group chat. 

Now, Hegseth confronts questions about the use of military force after a special operations team reportedly attacked survivors of a strike on an alleged drug boat off the coast of Venezuela. Some lawmakers and legal experts say the second strike would have violated the laws of armed conflict.

"These are serious charges, and that's the reason we're going to have special oversight," said Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The congressional committees overseeing the military launch an investigation amid mounting calls from Democratic senators for his resignation.

'Warrior culture'

Hegseth vowed to bring a "warrior culture" to the U.S. government's most powerful and expensive department, from rebranding it as the Department of War to essentially discarding the rules that govern how soldiers conduct themselves.

The Pentagon knew there were survivors after the September attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and the U.S. military still carried out a follow-up strike, according to two people familiar with the matter. The rationale for the second strike was that it was needed to sink the vessel, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Trump administration said all 11 people aboard were killed.

What remains unclear was who ordered the strikes and whether Hegseth was involved, one of the people said. That will be part of a classified congressional briefing Thursday with the commander that the Trump administration says ordered the second strike, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley.

Hegseth cited the "fog of war" Tuesday in defending the follow-up strike, saying there were explosions and fire and claiming he didn't see survivors in the water when the second strike was ordered and launched. 

Pentagon watchdog finds Hegseth's use of Signal posed risk to US personnel, AP sources say

Yet the approach to the operation was in line with the direction of the military under Hegseth, a former infantry officer with the Army National Guard who was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and earned Bronze Stars.

In September, he told a gathering of top military brass whom he summoned from around the globe to the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia that they should not "fight with stupid rules of engagement."

"We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country," Hegseth said. "No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters."

But lawmakers and military and legal experts say the Sept. 2 attack borders on illegal military action.

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"Somebody made a horrible decision. Somebody needs to be held accountable," said Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina who in January held out support for Hegseth then cast a crucial vote for his confirmation.

"Secretary Talk Show Host may have been experiencing the 'fog of war,' but that doesn't change the fact that this was an extrajudicial killing amounting to murder or a war crime," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. "He must resign."

Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican who served 30 years active duty in the Air Force, finishing his career at the rank of brigadier general, said he doesn't think Hegseth "was up to the task."

Trump's support

Trump, a Republican, largely stands by his defense secretary. But the decisions by Wicker, alongside House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers of Alabama and the top Democrats on the committees, to open investigations provide a rare moment of Congress asserting its authority to conduct oversight of the Trump administration.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who shepherded the defense secretary's nomination to confirmation, said the boat strikes are within Trump's authority as commander in chief and noted Hegseth serves at the pleasure of the president.

"I don't have, at this point, an evaluation of the secretary," Thune said at the start of the week. "Others can make those evaluations."

Hegseth also has strong allies on Capitol Hill, and it remains unclear how much Republicans would actually be willing to push back on the president.

Vice President JD Vance, who cast a tiebreaking vote to confirm Hegseth, vigorously defended him. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., another close ally to Trump, dismissed criticism of Hegseth as "nonsense" and part of an effort to undermine Trump's focus on Central and South America.

Tension between some Republican lawmakers and the Pentagon rose for months. Capitol Hill is angered by recent moves to restrict how defense officials communicate with lawmakers and the slow pace of information on Trump's campaign against the alleged drug boats.

Hegseth at first tried to brush aside the initial report about the Sept. 2 strike by posting a photo of the cartoon character Franklin the Turtle firing on a boat from a helicopter, but that just inflamed criticism of him and angered lawmakers who felt he didn't take the allegations seriously.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called Hegseth a “national embarrassment,” adding the defense secretary’s social media post of the cartoon turtle is “something no serious leader would ever think of doing.”

Schumer repeated his insistence Wednesday that Hegseth “release the full, unedited tapes” of what happened.