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The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was not up to the job: “I think he’s deeply out of his depth,” Rep. Jim Himes said at the Semafor World Economy Summit.
“A genius would struggle to do that job well, and Pete Hegseth is not that genius,” Himes added.
His comment comes amid reports that Hegseth shared US strike plans targeting the Houthis in a second Signal group chat. Last month, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly added The Atlantic’s editor in chief to a similar Signal chat, which sparked backlash around the use of non-governmental channels to discuss seemingly classified information. The White House has denied that any of the information discussed was classified.
That the group included Waltz, who Himes described as someone “trained with discipline and care,” speaks to the lack of security measures and accountability at the highest levels of government, the Democratic lawmaker said. “This might have been a one-off, but it’s a one-off that never would have happened if Mike were in a context of serious discipline, protocol, and accountability,” he added.
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As the top House Democrat voice on national security, Himes said his job under the Trump administration “won’t be radically different but will be radically more important.”
“This is an administration that has been more than willing to take actions which are either in violation of the law or on the margins of the law,” he said. “When you’re talking about that happening inside the activities of the intelligence community, that’s a very serious thing because it’s hidden.”
The Semafor View
Countries are reassessing how much they spend on defense and security in a world where the post-World War II order seems increasingly fractured. As governments struggle to boost defense budgets, the role of private companies is also in focus. The public and private approach to technical innovation could be the defining factor in any future conflicts.